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Weekend · Science

Build a working speaker from a paper cup, magnet, and wire

Plug it into your phone, music plays from a cup. They built audio.

75 min ages 913

How to do it

Wrap enameled copper wire into a flat coil about 1 inch in diameter, 50 turns. Sand both lead ends to remove enamel. Glue the coil to the bottom of a paper cup. Glue a neodymium disc magnet to a flat surface beneath where the coil will hang. Strip the ends of an old 3.5mm audio cable (cut from a broken pair of headphones) — three wires inside, twist the ground to one coil lead, twist either L or R to the other. Plug into phone, play music. The coil vibrates against the magnet, the cup amplifies it. It sounds tinny but it WORKS. Talk about what just happened: that's how every speaker in the world works, including the ones in their phone. Now they understand sound.

What you'll need

  • Enameled copper wire (26 AWG)

    Amazon
  • Neodymium disc magnets

    Amazon
  • Paper cup

    Free
  • Old 3.5mm headphone cable (cut)

    From an old/broken pair of headphones

    Free
Get everything ready

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