How do phone microphones remain waterproof but also pickup sound waves?
In: Engineering
Something being able to pick up sound waves just means that vibrations can move through it. Making something waterproof doesn’t hinder its ability to vibrate.
My understanding of how microphones work is that they’re the same as the eardrum. Basically a flat surface (like the skin of a drum) is blasted by sound waves (which aren’t ‘up and down’ waves, they’re ‘in and out’ waves). On the other side, a sensor detects the vibrations on the drum and then converts them to electrical signals representing sounds. There’s no hole that water could get into, the sensor is a flat surface.
But you might want to wait for someone who knows what they’re talking about to come along
Microphones (& speakers) generally do consist of a thin membrane that vibrates a coil over a permanent magnet, which in turn produces an electrical signal that can be translated to sound again.
If that membrane is made of a watertight material, and all the possible gaps around are properly sealed, there’s nowhere the water can enter.
It’s quite simplified and horrifying (scientifically speaking) but imagine a very small net: it block water but allows other stuff.
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