How CDs are made
1 Sound waves hit the microphone’s diaphragm, creating a complex series of vibrations
2 The microphone converts these physical vibrations into electrical pulses
3 Electrical current is converted to digital code–a binary language of 1s and 0s
4 This binary data is laser-etched onto a glass master disc, used as a mold for making CDs
How CDs are played
1 A laser scans the underside of the CD, converting the “pits” and “flats” to flashes of light
2 “On” and “off” light flashes correspond to binary code (1 represents “on”, 0 is “off”)
3 Binary code is converted to numerical values, used to produce an electrical current
4 The current is amplified, and converted back to sound waves by a loudspeaker
