reactance impedance statement

[veenife]

im writing a school essay and i made the following statement.... but im not sure if this is correct to say...

"...imagine a non-realistic situation where we could hear the signal straight out of a microphone even before amplification or anything. Placing this microphone right in front of a drum kit we normally could hear a good balance between the bass drum and cymbals, but if we attach a capacitor into the microphone output path this would create a capacitive reactance (impedance) mostly upon the low frequencies of the bass drum in comparison to the cymbals and in the end we would notice a reduction in level of the bass drum and almost no difference in the level of the cymbals. Getting the same example but placing an inductor into the path instead of a capacitor, the inductor would create a inductive reactance (impedance) mostly upon the high frequencies of the cymbals and in the end a reduction in level of the cymbals would be noticeable while the bass drum level would be unchanged..."

 

[FvM]

You are trying a visual description of an electrical filter. The description isn't incorrect but inaccurate. Saying "attach a capacitor into the microphone output path" doesn't specify a circuit. The intended filter effect (high-pass) will be only achieved if the capacitor is (series) connected between microphone and amplifier input. The amplifier input impedance becomes part of the filter circuit, and the microphone output impedance also affects it's characteristic. Without connecting an amplifier or some other load impedance you don't get a filter effect. As a reader I would prefer to see the filter circuit sketched along with the text to better understand what you are talking about. I don't know if it's beyond the scope of the essay to mention a formula for the first order RL and RC filter cut-off frequency.

Another way to create a high pass would be an inductor connected parallel to the microphone, working together with the microphone output impedance. Similarly a parallel capacitor forms a low-pass.

 

[treez]

An essay about a circuit...

What you should do is get playing with the LTspice simulator, you will soon understand basics of L's and C's.

The secret of electronics design, is to copy what someone else has done, and pretend you did it yourself, then so you don't look stupid you try and work out how its really working, at least enough for you to check it won't blow up.