Lover's Phone
Communication in a Can
British scientist Robert Hooke's experiments in acoustics led to his developing a device that became known as the "Lover's Phone," or tin can phone in 1667.
How It Works
Hooke used two tin cans with a wire fastened through a hole in the bottoms. If stretched taut, users can talk into one of the cans, allowing another user on the opposite end to place his ear inside the other can and hear what the speaker says. The can acts as a diaphragm which collects the sound wave created by the speaker, converts them mechanical vibrations. The vibrations vary in intensity in response to the speakers words. These vibrations travel along the wire and cause the can to vibrate and covert them back into sound waves, which the listener can hear. The device, known technically as a “mechanical acoustic device,” allows people to communicate over longer distances than they could conveniently converse. By tying additional wires, or strings, perpendicular to the main string, other users can join in the network.
From the Book