Loudspeakers & Headphones (AQA GCSE Physics): Revision Note

Loudspeakers & Headphones

Higher Tier Only

• Loudspeakers and headphones convert electrical signals into sound

  • They work due to the motor effect

• Headphones are essentially small moving-coil loudspeakers

  • Therefore, they function in exactly the same way as a loudspeaker

• A loudspeaker consists of a coil of wire which is wrapped around one pole of a permanent magnet

Diagram showing a cross-section of a loudspeaker

• An alternating current passes through the coil of the loudspeaker

  • This creates a changing magnetic field around the coil

• As the current is constantly changing direction, the direction of the magnetic field will be constantly changing

• The magnetic field produced around the coil interacts with the field from the permanent magnet

• The interacting magnetic fields will exert a force on the coil

  • The direction of the force at any instant can be determined using Fleming’s left-hand rule

• As the magnetic field is constantly changing direction, the force exerted on the coil will constantly change direction

  • This makes the coil oscillate

• The oscillating coil causes the speaker cone to oscillate

  • This makes the air oscillate, creating sound waves