File:Hughes carbon rod microphone 1878.png

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Summary

DescriptionHughes carbon rod microphone 1878.png	English: Crude carbon rod microphone invented by David Edwards Hughes in 1878. It consists of a carbon rod (A) suspended by its pointed ends vertically between two metal electrodes (C). Sound vibrations transmitted from the wooden back (B) to the carbon-steel contact causes varying pressure on the carbon granules, causing variation in the carbon's resistance. Edwards found that the device was very sensitive, he was able hear the sound of a fly walking on it, and named it "microphone". Edwards did not invent the microphone but experimented with a wide range of "microphonic" electrical contacts. With another type of contact he discovered he could detect electromagnetic waves from a spark, thus inventing a type of coherer.
Date	1888
Source	Retrieved April 8, 2015 from Thomas Gray, "Telephone", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th Edition, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1888, Vol. 23, p. 132, fig. 11 on Google Books
Author	Thomas Gray

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