A microphone is a device that captures sound and converts it into an electrical signal that can be amplified, recorded, or transmitted. When you speak into a microphone, it picks up the vibrations your voice creates in the air and transforms them into a form that speakers, computers, or recording equipment can use.

You've probably seen microphones in many places: singers hold them on stage, news reporters speak into them during interviews, and podcasters use them to record their shows. Your phone has a tiny microphone that lets the person on the other end hear you. Video game headsets have microphones so players can talk to their teammates.

Microphones work through different technologies, but they all do the same basic job: they capture sounds so they can be made louder, saved, or sent somewhere else. Before microphones were invented in the late 1800s, performers had to project their voices loudly enough for everyone in a theater to hear. Now a whisper into a microphone can fill an entire stadium.