Carbon microphone

Okay, imagine you have a toy telephone that you talk into and your friend can hear you on the other end. A carbon microphone is kind of like the part of that toy telephone that you talk into.

When you speak into the toy telephone, your voice makes little vibrations that travel through the air and into the toy. The part of the toy telephone that you talk into is called the microphone, and it changes those vibrations into an electrical signal so that it can be sent through the wire to the other end of the toy telephone.

A carbon microphone uses a little bit of carbon powder to help change those vibrations into an electrical signal. Inside the carbon microphone is a tiny little capsule that contains carbon powder and two thin metal plates. When you speak into the microphone, the vibrations from your voice squish the carbon powder and cause changes in the electrical signal that can be sent down the wire.

So when you talk into a carbon microphone, it changes the sound waves into electrical signals that can be sent through a wire to a speaker so that your voice can be heard loudly and clearly. Cool, huh?