Middle School
Worksheets
How Does a Cell Phone Work?
How does a cell phone work? It works more like a radio than an older land line telephone - a high-tech, up-to-date radio.
Radio technology has been around for a long time - at least since the late 1800s. Radios send signals by means of electromagnetic waves. There's nothing new about sending messages by radio signals. However, having millions of people talk on cell phones at one time is new, and cellular technology is what made that possible.
Cellular technology is an efficient method of sending radio signals. With cellular technology, it is easy to send many, many signals at the same time. That is why millions of people can all be talking on their cell phones at any given moment.
The name "cellular" refers to cells, or small sections like the parts of a honeycomb. In cellular technology, an area of land, such as a city, is divided into many areas of about ten square miles each which are called cells.
