The first telephone that Thomas A. Watson built for Alexander Graham Bell used a transmitter with an acid-water mixture. The telephone consisted of a funnel, a diaphragm, a cup, and a receiver. A wire attached to the diaphragm floated in the liquid in the cup. Another wire attached the cup to the receiver. Speaking into the funnel caused the diaphragm at the bottom to move, which in turn moved the wire in the liquid. When the wire moved, it changed the resistance within the liquid. The varying current sent to the receiver caused the diaphragm to vibrate and produce sound.

Although this crude prototype proved that speech could be transmitted electrically, the device was not practical, and Bell did not use it in his public demonstrations. Instead, he used a prototype that used an electromagnet instead of liquid. The design consisted of a transmitter, receiver, and magnet. Attached to the transmitter and receiver was a metal diaphragm. Speaking into the transmitter caused the diaphragm to move and the phone line to transfer this motion to the receiver. When the diaphragm of the receiver vibrated, sound was produced.

The drawback to this design was that it used a single microphone: The user spoke into it and then put it to the ear to listen. There was also a time lapse in the transmission. Thomas Alva Edison later improved the telephone by dividing it into two pieces: a movable earpiece and a stationary speaking tube. Another drawback to this prototype telephone was that it was voice-powered: The user had to shout into the transmitter to be heard as well as to overcome noise and distortions. Other inventors, notably Francis Blake, Jr., contributed to improving the telephone. Blake, like Edison, invented a transmitter that improved the sound clarity of the device. . .

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