Make a tin-can telephone
Materials
• hammer
• nails (3 small)
• thread (heavy duty—
12 feet; 3.6 meters)
• tin cans (2)
This telephone doesn’t need electricity to work. A piece of thread
carries the sound of your voice.
Have a grown-up use the hammer and one nail to punch a small hole in the
center of the bottom of each can. Push the ends of the thread through
the holes, from the outside to the inside, of each can.
Tie each end of the thread to a nail. Pull the thread until the nail
touches the bottom of the can. Your \”telephone” is ready to use.
Give a friend one of the cans. Stand far enough apart to stretch the
thread tightly.
Talk softly into your end of the \”telephone” while your friend holds
the other can to one ear. Then have your friend talk while you listen.
When you talk, your voice makes the bottom of the can vibrate. The
vibrations are conducted through the tight thread. When they reach the
other end of the thread, they make the bottom of the second can
vibrate— and your friend hears what you say.
You can make a \”party line,” too. Push a piece of thread through a
third tin can. Tie the end to a nail. Then tie the other end of the
thread to the middle of the first piece of thread. When the joined
threads are stretched into a Y shape, you and your friends can have a
three-way conversation.
