Figure 1. Microphone diaphragm.

Most people are familiar with what a microphone does and looks like, but not everyone knows how microphones work, or what they look like on the inside. The part that might come to mind most easily, the familiar grating of a microphone, is really just there to protect a delicate membrane (called a diaphragm) that is vital to a microphone's function. Figure 1 shows a typical microphone with the grating removed. The flat, round sheet is the diaphragm, and is the part of a microphone that is sensitive to sound waves. Just like the eardrum, a microphone diaphragm vibrates in response to slight changes in air pressure hitting its surface in the form of sound waves. Also like the eardrum, if this delicate structure is damaged, sound will not be faithfully represented.