General science
Title: How do cell phones work?
Information: The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have published a concise answer to your question in "Cell Phone Facts: Consumer Information on Wireless Phones." Here is an excerpt from that page: "Wireless telephones are two-way radios. When you talk into a wireless telephone, it picks up your voice and converts the sound to radiofrequency energy (or radio waves). The radio waves travel through the air until they reach a receiver at a nearby base station. The base station then sends your call through the telephone network until it reaches the person you are calling. "When you receive a call on your wireless telephone, the message travels through the telephone network until it reaches a base station close to your wireless phone. Then the base station sends out radio waves that are detected by a receiver in your telephone, where the signals are changed back into the sound of a voice. " You can read more facts about cell phones by going to the complete article athttp://www.fda.gov/cellphones/. I found the above resource by searching the NSDL Collections. Go tohttp://www.nsdl.org and click on the "Search" tab. Type in the phrase: "cell phone" (use quotation marks "" to keep the two words together.) You may wish to look at some of the other results that I've listed below. How Stuff Works: "How a Cell Phone Works"--Check out this article by Marshall Brain and Jeff Tyson for detailed information on how cell phones operate. You can use the links on the right hand side and bottom of the page to choose specific sections that interest you.http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) athttp://www.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp has published virtual exhibits pertaining to cell phones. Type the phrase, "cell phone" (with quotes) in the search box of their homepage. Be sure to check out the links in the left hand navigation column for more resources. "Cell Phone Antenna Links" --http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/tech.php?id=2345914&lid=1 "How Does a Cell Phone Work?" --http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/tech.php?id=2345893&lid=1 You can look on the Internet to find additional resources. Search on the phrase "how cell phones work." Here are a few that I found using Google athttp://www.google.com. Yahooligans! Ask Earl: "How Cell Phones Work" - "Earl" provides a short answer to your question and suggests a movie about cell phones at "Brain Pop." http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/ask_earl/20021001.html "How Cell Phones Work" This is an excellent, comprehensive article for the advanced reader. The University of Washington's Dept. of Electrical Engineering examines system design, systems in existence and focuses on "capacity," and other major issues related to airtime cost.http://www.ee.washington.edu/class/498/sp98/final/marsha/final.html Thank you for your question on cell phones. If you need further help, be sure to check with the librarian at your school or public library. The AskNSDL staff
Category: General science