Youtube, it's Cram.
Sound.
Allowing us to perceive the world through
vibrations in their air.
And electricity, flowing electrons that power
our modern world.
These two seem like they couldn't be more
different, but in fact they are different
forms of the same thing.
They are both forms of energy, and can be
converted to one another.
How?
To figure this out, lets use the microphone
as a starting point.
It takes sound in from the top part, which
has several holes in it, processes it somehow,
and then sends it off as electricity through
a wire.It seems simple enough, except for
the processing part.
Microphones are a kind of transducer, something
that can convert one form of energy to another.
In this case, it is sound to electricity.
There are many kinds of microphones, but one
thing they all have in common is called the
diaphragm, a thin piece made of a material,
commonly plastic, aluminum or paper.
This acts in a similar fashion to our eardrums,
it vibrates because of sound waves.
Ok, but our eardrums don't convert sound into
electricity.
We're all familiar with a simple electrical
generator, right?
Basically, there is a coil, typically a conductor
like copper, and inside the coil is a magnet.
As the magnet rotates/ moves, an electrical
current passes through the coil.
This is because of electromagnetism, and electricity
can be used to make a magnet, the opposite
is also true.
So when this material vibrates, it is attached
to the magnet, therefore moving the magnet,
thus creating an electrical signal.
This signal is passed through a wire to a
speaker, or anything that plays music.
This speaker is also a transducer.
It does the opposite though.
Remember how electricity can be used to create
a magnet?
Well, that's what's happening.
The electricity flows through the coiled conductor
inside the speaker, in turn moving the magnet.
This magnet usually moves a cone, instead
of a thin material, which produces the sound.
This is why larger speakers typically have
more bass, since the cone is bigger, larger
wavelengths can travel further, thus having
more "oomph" and cleaner sound.
Wait, so if sound can make energy, why don't
we use it as a renewable source of energy?
That's because the amount of energy is extremely
low, too low to even bother with.
Or it would be the end of the energy crisis
we face today.
I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I
appreciated you watching.
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science videos, and until next time, Cram
Out.
