• Question: Do you know which one converts electrical energy into sound? An amplifier or a loud speaker?

    Asked by hannah11 to Mark, Matthew, Mike, Paul, Sabina on 10 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Mike Lee

      Mike Lee answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      Is this a homework question?

    • Photo: Paul Coxon

      Paul Coxon answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      The amplifier does what it’s name says it does: it amplifies the electrical signal generated by an electric instrument or microphone.

      The loudspeaker takes the amplified electrical current from the amplifier and passes it through a coil of wire surrounding a magnet – known as the voice coil.

      This causes the coil to move in response to the current generated by the sound. Fixing a cone onto the coil forms the soundwaves which we then hear.

    • Photo: Matthew Malek

      Matthew Malek answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      A loud speaker does what it says on the tin: Powered by electrical energy, its output is sound.

      An amplifier also runs off of electricity, but is more general and doesn’t have to be used solely for audio systems. Lots of electronics circuits use amplifiers (especially something called “operational amplifiers”, or “op amps” for short) for other uses. Last Spring, I taught an electronics lab where first year undergrads needed to design a final project using op amps.

    • Photo: Mark Jackson

      Mark Jackson answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      I don’t know, but the best ones go to eleven. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc

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