How do earbuds turn noise cancelling on and off?

Question

I truly don’t understand the mechanics of this.

In: 18

Answer 1

Earbuds have tiny microphones in them that pick up the sounds around you. When you turn on noise cancelling, the earbuds use these microphones to listen to the sounds around you. They then create an “anti-noise” sound wave that is the exact opposite of the noise around you. This cancels out the noise, making it harder for you to hear it. When you turn off noise cancelling, the earbuds stop creating the anti-noise sound wave, so you can hear the sounds around you again.