The point of this project was to learn about the power of electromagnetism, and how it can be applied to real life. Each small group was tasked with creating a device that served a certain purpose and utilized electromagnetism as its source for power. Our group (the Jareds) chose to create a speaker and this is how we accomplished that task.
Materials needed: 1. Scissors 2. Pliers 3. Paper 4. Plastic cup 5. Box cutter 6. Copper wire 7. A stack of magnets 8. Gator clips 9. The end of a pair of headphones (the headphone jack) 10. Tape
First, you want to cut two strips of paper two inches by six inches, and then, take your stack of magnets, and roll it tightly in the first piece of paper. Tape the roll together, and then roll the next pice of paper around this paper and magnet roll. Now, you want to wrap your copper wire around the roll 80 times leaving extra length on both sides of the wire to connect later. (If you are using magnet wire, or any wire with enamel on it, be sure to burn or scrape it off the ends).
Now, using your pliers, pull out the inner roll of paper, without removing the magnets, and dispose of it. push the magnet all the way to one end of your paper roll, and make four cuts in the end flaps of the paper roll (DO NOT CUT THE WIRE IN THIS PROCESS).
Now, glue your newly cut paper roll to the end of your plastic cup, and cut out a circle from the top of the cup, still leaving edges on the end of the cup. It should look like the above image. Now, cut out a bit more of the edge on the base of the cup still leaving some plastic around the sides, and dispose of that excess plastic. Cut out a circle of tape slightly larger than the hole on the bottom of he cup, and put it in the inside of the cup, with the adhesive side facing out of the hole that you cut earlier.
stick the paper roll with the plastic on the bottom to the tape on the bottom of the cup now and make sure that the magnets are close to the top of the paper roll. now roll up one end of your paper clip, magnetic that end to your magnet stack, and glue the other end to you cup, this will help the speaker stand up.
Cut off a small length of wire off of your headphones , and strip the plastic from the wire so that the wire inside the headphones is exposed. clip your gator clips to the ends of the headphone wires.
Clip the other ends of the gator clips onto the exposed wire on the piece that is attached to the cup and the paper roll. Now, you can plug the headphone jack into a device of your choosing, and listen to music through this device! (While the cup does amplify the noise, you can get the same effect by putting your phone in a cup with the speakers face down, its far simpler.)
This speaker works by the metal coil causing a magnetic field when electricity flows through it. As a result, the magnet vibrates back and forward, creating sound. As the cup is a funnel with the opening being larger, the amplitude of the sound is increased, therefor making a louder sound.