• Question: how does your mobile phone work?

    Asked by to Laurence, Greig, Dave, Chris, Aimee on 14 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Laurence Perreault Levasseur

      Laurence Perreault Levasseur answered on 14 Jun 2014:

      My mobile phone doesn’t really work, since I always forget to charge it….

      Joke apart, I have no clue. It’s really complicated, that’s all I know, and I’d need a degree in computer sciences or engineering (or both) to understand it I’m afraid… BUT, I did learn how a traditional wired phone works a couple of months ago! (I think it’s impressive given I’m a theorist and I’m not supposed to know how any of the real-world stuff works 😛 )

    • Photo: Aimee Hopper

      Aimee Hopper answered on 15 Jun 2014:

      When you speak into your phone, the microphone converts the sound of your voice to electrical signals. These are then converted into an electromagnetic wave, which is sent to your nearest phone mast to be broadcast up to the satelitte nearest to you (with an number saying who it is going to)

      Since mobile phones are only small, they only have a small amount of power to run the transmission, hence the reason you run out of signal if you are too far away from a mast / behind a hill etc.

      The reverse then happens when your friend picks up the call – a mast near them receives the signal and sends it to your friends phone.

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