microphones and sound outputs

Question	Answer
What is a microphone?	They are a type of transducer - a device which converts energy from one form to another. Microphones convert acoustical energy to electrical energy (the audio sound)
What are the main components of a microphone?	The Diaphragm, The Coil, and The Magnet.
What does the Diaphragm do?	It creates vibrations which are converted into an audio signal (made of paper, plastic or aluminium)
What does the coil do?	The coil is attached to the diaphragm and when the diaphragm moves so does the coil.
What does the magnet do?	The magnet has the coil wrapped around it. When the coil moves it creates an electric current which is the audio signal.
What is a speaker?	A hardware device that takes a digital signal and turns it into sound.
What is the sound card?	Also called a sound board or audio card. It is an expansion card for producing sound. They are either in an expansion slot or built into the motherboard.
What are headphones?	A hardware device that either plug into your computer or your speakers. Headphones work in the same way as speakers but are much smaller and can have a microphone integrated.

Resource summary

	Created by Daniel Taylor over 5 years ago