Tape Recorder | Audio Equipment | Britannica

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External Websites

• Library and Archives Canada - The Tape Recorder

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• tape recorder - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

tape recorder audio equipment Ask Anything Homework Help Also known as: cassette deck, cassette recorder, tape deck Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

tape recorder, recording system that makes use of electromagnetic phenomena to record and reproduce sound waves. The tape consists of a plastic backing coated with a thin layer of tiny particles of magnetic powder. The recording head of the tape deck consists of a tiny C-shaped magnet with its gap adjacent to the moving tape. The incoming sound wave, having been converted by a microphone into an electrical signal, produces a time-varying magnetic field in the gap of the magnet. As the tape moves past the recording head, the powder is magnetized in such a way that the tape carries a record of the electric signal. On playing back the tape past the recording head, the signal is reproduced and then converted through a loudspeaker into the original sound wave.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.