A transducer is any device that changes one form of energy into a different form of energy, when one of the forms of energy involved is electrical energy. Transducers are usually thought of electrical components in circuits but parts of the body can act as transducers.
Receptors transfer light energy or sound energy from a stimulus – something you see or hear – into electrical energy that travels along nerve cells to the brain. In each eye we have receptors called rod cells, which are sensitive to light energy. When light hits a rod cell, it causes changes in the cell membrane that set off an action potential that travels into nearby nerve cells.
The electrical impulse travels along the nerve cells in the optic nerve and information is carried to the brain. The rod cell converts light energy to electrical energy and so is a transducer; it therefore follows that the eye that it is part of is also a transducer.
Receptors transfer light energy or sound energy from a stimulus – something you see or hear – into electrical energy that travels along nerve cells to the brain. In each eye we have receptors called rod cells, which are sensitive to light energy. When light hits a rod cell, it causes changes in the cell membrane that set off an action potential that travels into nearby nerve cells.
The electrical impulse travels along the nerve cells in the optic nerve and information is carried to the brain. The rod cell converts light energy to electrical energy and so is a transducer; it therefore follows that the eye that it is part of is also a transducer.
