Do speakers really blow air?

Question

I was wondering, if speakers get koud enough, does air really blow out of them or not?

Answer 1

Yes, speakers blow. All speakers blow!

Speakers are all about moving air, and they do blow! They also suck! It is the process of blowing and sucking that changes the air pressure and causes waves to emanate. The dispersion of the emanating wave depends on the design of the speaker and the frequency of the tone.

Our eardrums, cochlea, stapes etc. are sensitive to changes in air pressure. The auditory nerve measures the changes in pressure and sends signals to the temporal lobe in our brains. We sense this as "sound."

The musical note "A" in the middle of a piano blows and sucks exactly 440 times per second. (440 Hz) The "A" above it blows and sucks 880 times. (one octave higher) It's basic physiology and physics, marrying to form our sense of sound. Yes, a piano string blows and sucks too. In the outward leg of it's vibration it blows, increasing pressure, and when it retracts, it sucks, creating low pressure.

There are many different types of speakers, most of which can't blow out a candle, but make no mistake, they all blow and suck. That's all our sense of hearing understands.

Finally, you probably already know that there is no transmission of sound in outer space, or in any vacuum for that matter. Air, or some form of atmosphere, is required. You have to have something you can blow to increase pressure, and suck to decrease it.

Edit: most of the answers here, above mine, are correct. Even the first guy that merely said "yes." lol It's a question of verbage. Push/pull, move, blow/suck, it's all different ways of saying the same thing.

Good question, I'm giving you a star.

Answer 2

Speakers Push The Air

Answer 3

It would be more accurate to say speakers "Push and Pull" air. By pushing and pulling you can get quite a bit of displaced air that feels blown. Particularly if your hand is near the port of a ported speaker. Air is forced out and in very rapidly as the speaker moves in and out. Air is still moved by a non-ported speaker but in a ported speaker that air inside the speaker is channeled through a narrow channel so it is easier to feel.

Answer 4

Hi .Speakers do not "blow" air .They move air in various ways.The common moving coil speaker, where a coil of wire is suspended in the magnetic field of a circular magnet behaves like a piston and actually "pumps" air with its cone.When a current is passed through the coil a varying magnetic field is generated by the coil. The two magnetic fields interact ,causing movement of the coil.The movement of the coil causes a cone ,which is attached to the coil, to move back and forth. This compresses and decompresses the air thereby generating sound waves.When the cone moves forward,the air in front of the cone is compressed creating a partial vacuum as the cone moves back which is quickly replaced with air,for the next movement forward.

Panel speakers radiate sound from both surfaces so to prevent cancellation from the two surfaces the panels are made very large which helps to isolate the front wave from the back wave. Because these speakers are flat and large they can only move air by the whole panel moving forward and backward. Because they are not attached to coils like the cone speakers these transducers are free to move as a whole creating a more uniform radiation pattern and usually sound better.

Back in the 70's a speaker was invented to "squeese air' instead of pumping or moving air. It was called the Heil Air Motion Transformer. It looked like a Darlek from theTVseries Dr.Who ! It had these pleated panels like venetion blinds and these panels squeezed out the air, The analagy was like having a cherry pit between your thumb and forfinger and as you squeezed the cherry pit it gradually moved forward then shot out at a fast speed.That is how the speaker made sound . Crazy ?

Answer 5

Some speakers will blow air. These are called "ported" speakers. Others, called "acoustic suspension" speakers, will not.

Ported speakers have a vent from which phase-adjusted air from the back of the woofer will blow out a hole, usually in the front but sometimes in the back.

Acoustic suspension speakers are sealed and will not blow air.

Answer 6

Air doesn't blow out of them, but it can appear that way. A speaker works by vibrating, causing compressions in the air, forming the sound wave. This compression can move a sizable amount of air, but the speaker never actually "blows" air.

Answer 7

No, air is not blown out like in a hair dryer, as there is no motor to do so in a speaker. However, the sound waves will PUSH air out from immediately in front of the speaker, making it feel like the air is being blown out.

Answer 8

No. They will not "blow" air, but they will move air. A large enough speaker with a high enough volume will move the air in front of it. Put a lit match in front of a speaker and crank the volume, you'll see what I mean.

Answer 9

Yes and Mythbusters prooved it.
They set up a set of speakers and a bass with a candle in front of it and when a really loud noise was made, the wind from the speakers blew out the candle.

Answer 10

As a speaker moves it displaces air (as anything does when it moves). The displaced air has to go somewhere and sometimes you can actually feel it. Depending on the speaker box design, the air may be more funneled and thus more powerful.