How Do Loudspeakers Work?

The motor effect is used in loudspeakers. It converts electrical signals into sound waves.

In these devices, variations in an electric current cause variations in the magnetic field
produced by an electromagnet. This causes a cone to move, which creates pressure
variations in the air and forms sound waves.

Here is the setup shown below:

Firstly, we can see that we have a cone which has a coil of wire wrapped around one end. The coil of
wire is connected to an alternating current electrical supply. There is also a permanent magnet which
goes inside the coil of the wire.

As the current passes through the coil, it generates a magnetic field. The magnetic field from the coil
now interacts with the magnetic field from the permanent magnet. Therefore, these magentic fields
either repel or attract each other. This produces a resultant force, which causes the cone to move.

When the current switches direction, the direction of the force on the cone reverses. So this causes the
cone to move in and out, generating sound waves.

So in conclusion, alternating current (ac) supplied to the loudspeaker creates sound waves in the
following way:

1. a current in the coil creates an electromagnetic field

2. the electromagnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet, generating a force which
pushes the cone outwards
3. the current is made to flow in the opposite direction
4. the direction of the electromagnetic field reverses
5. the force on the cone now pulls it back in
6. repeatedly alternating the current direction makes the cone vibrate in and out
7. the cone vibrations cause pressure variations in the air, which are sound waves
By changing the frequency of the AC supply, you can change the frequency at which the
cone vibrates. A higher frequency will produce a higher pitch sound. A lower frequency will
produce a lower pitch sound.

If you increase the size of the current, then you increase the amplitude of the vibration. This
increases the volume of the sound.

To make a loudspeaker cone vibrate correctly, the electric current must vary in the same
way as the desired sound.

Headphones contain much smaller loudspeakers.

An alternating current is an electric current that regularly changes its direction and size.