Do not be so surprised when you hear music coming from your post-it notes. Yes, you’ve read that correctly; music from your post-it notes.
Recently, David Sheinkopf, director of education at New York’s Pioneer Works Center for Art and Innovation, discovered a way to turn a post-it note into a speaker. Sheinkopf explained the process as such, “Run a current through a coil of wire, and you have an electromagnet. This pushes and pulls against a fixed magnet next to it, turning magnetomotive force into motion, which moves the Post-it and disturbs the air around it.” The disturbances this process creates are transformed into sound once they reach your eardrum.
So whats needed in order to build the post-it speaker, you may be wondering? The items are fairly simple and easy to find. You need a post-it note, a magnet wire, a strong magnet, clear tape, alligator clips, a male-to-male headphone cable, scissors, and sandpaper.
To begin making the speaker you have to prepare the magnet wire. This is done by taking 120 cm of wire and sanding away the thin enamel at the ends. This step allows the underneath copper to become visible. Next, you wind the wire around your finger, leaving 5cm at each end. Once the wire is removed from your finger, it should resemble a donut shape. The clear tape should then be used to maintain the shape.
Once the magnet wire has been prepared, you must attach the post-it note. This is done by taping your magnet to a surface and then placing the post-it note on top of the magnet. Next, tape the donut in the centre of the post-it, so it sits directly on top of the magnet.
Almost finished. After the donut is taped to the magnet, you attach the alligator clips to one end of the headphone cable. Sheinkopf says to “clip a length of prepared wire to the tip of the jack and another to the next segment. Attach the two other ends to the magnet wires coming off your wire loop.” After this, in order to begin listening, you plug the opposite end of the headphone cable into a phone or media player.
And voila! You’ve made your very own post-it speaker. To obtain the best listening experience, it is advised that you press your ear against the surface the speaker is taped to.
