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How it works ?

How things work

Door Closer
There are two kinds of door closers.

Storm Door Closer

Hydraulic Door
Closer

The first looks like this and is typically used on screen doors and
storm doors:

Working

Inside the cylinder is a spring.

There is also an air cylinder. When you open the door, the
cylinder fills with air.
When the door is closing, the spring pushes a piston, which
forces the air out of the cylinder through a small hole. The

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How it works ?
leaking air creates the hissing noise that you normally hear
with these door closers.
Toto
Install
Install

Hydraulic Door
Closer
The second type of door closer is hydraulic and looks something
like this:

Working

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How it works ?
It works on the same principle, using a spring to provide the closing
force. But instead of air to slow the spring down, these closers use
a lightweight oil in a configuration that is a lot like a shock
absorber.

How things work

Cistern Tank
There are several interrelated components that make a toilet do
what it does, as shown here:

If you take off the tank cover and peer inside, you will see all of
these parts. They might look slightly different in your particular
toilet, but they are all there in one form or another. The three main
systems that work together are:
The bowl siphon

The flush mechanism

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How it works ?
The refill mechanism

Let's look at each of these parts separately until the secrets of the
toilet are revealed.

Water Tap
When closed:--

When open :-

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How it works ?

How it works ?
How CD (Compact Disc ) works : CD:- A Compact Disc (CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data.
Working:-CD-ROM drives employ a near-infrared 780 nm laser diode. The laser beam is
directed onto the disc via an opto-electronic tracking module, which then detects whether
the beam has been reflected or scattered.
What makes a CD ?
A CD is made up of a polycarbonate plastic known as Polymethyle Meta Acrylic.
The surface of the CD is coated with a thin layer of aluminium to make it reflective, and is
protected by a film of lacquer that is normally spin coated directly on top of the reflective
layer, upon which the label print is applied.
Data Storage
CD data are stored as a series of tiny indentations known as pits, encoded in a spiral track
molded into the top of the polycarbonate layer. The areas between pits are known as

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How it works ?
lands. Each pit is approximately 100 nm deep by 500 nm wide, and varies from 850 nm to
3.5 m in length.

How CD Retrieve data?

How it works ?
Vacuum Cleaner
Inside Vacuum Cleaner

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Working:When you plug the vacuum cleaner in and turn it on, this is what happens:
The electric current operates the motor. The motor is attached to the fan, which has
angled blades (like an airplane propeller).
As the fan blades turn, they force air forward, toward the exhaust port (check out How
Airplanes Work to find out what causes this).
When air particles are driven forward, the density of particles (and therefore the air
pressure) increases in front of the fan and decreases behind the fan.
This pressure drop behind the fan is just like the pressure drop in the straw when you sip
from your drink. The pressure level in the area behind the fan drops below the pressure
level outside the vacuum cleaner (the ambient air pressure). This creates suction, a
partial vacuum, inside the vacuum cleaner.
The ambient air pushes itself into the vacuum cleaner through the intake port because
the air pressure inside the vacuum cleaner is lower than the pressure outside.
As long as the fan is running and the passageway through the vacuum cleaner remains open, there
is a constant stream of air moving through the intake port and out the exhaust port. But how does a
flowing stream of air collect the dirt and debris from your carpet? The key principle is friction.

How it works ?

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How it works ?
Refrigerator

The left-hand side of the picture shows what's happening inside the chiller
cabinet (where you keep your food). The dotted line and pink area show the
back wall and insulation separating the inside from the outside. The right-hand
side of the picture shows what's going around the back of the fridge, out of
sight.
1. The coolant is a liquid as it enters the expansion valve (yellow). As it
passes through, the sudden drop in pressure makes it expand, cool, and
turn into a gas (just like a liquid aerosol turns into a cool gas when you
spray it out of a can).
2. As the coolant flows around the chiller cabinet (usually around a pipe
buried in the back wall), it absorbs and removes heat from the food
inside.
3. The compressor squeezes the coolant, raising its temperature and
pressure. It's now a hot, high-pressure gas.
4. The coolant flows through thin radiator pipes on the back of the fridge,
giving out its heat and cooling back into a liquid as it does so.
5. The coolant flows back through the insulated cabinet to the expansion
valve and the cycle repeats itself. So heat is constantly picked up from
inside the refrigerator and put down again outside it.

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How it works ?

Relay
A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an
electromagnet and a set of contacts.

Pole and Throw

Relays have the exact working of a switch. So, the same concept is also applied. A relay is said to
switch one or more poles. Each pole has contacts that can be thrown in mainly three ways. They are

Normally Open Contact (NO) NO contact is also called a make contact. It closes the
circuit when the relay is activated. It disconnects the circuit when the relay is inactive.
Normally Closed Contact (NC) NC contact is also known as break contact. This is
opposite to the NO contact. When the relay is activated, the circuit disconnects. When the
relay is deactivated, the circuit connects.

Relays are also named with designations like

Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) This type of relay has a total of four terminals. Out of
these two terminals can be connected or disconnected. The other two terminals are needed
for the coil.
Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) This type of a relay has a total of five terminals. Out
f these two are the coil terminals. A common terminal is also included which connects to
either of two others.

Double Pole Single Throw (DPST) This relay has a total of six terminals. These
terminals are further divided into two pairs. Thus they can act as two SPSTs which are
actuated by a single coil. Out of the six terminals two of them are coil terminals.

Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) This is the biggest of all. It has mainly eight relay
terminals. Out of these two rows are designed to be change over terminals. They are
designed to act as two SPDT relays which are actuated by a single coil.

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How it works ?

How it works ?
Hand drill
It is useful tool for woodworkers and those who prefer not to use power tools.

Working:
A hand drill is a manual tool that converts and amplifies circular motion of the crank
into circular motion of a drill chuck. Though it has been replaced in most
applications by power drills, the hand drill is used by many woodworkers.
The hand drill consists of a cranking handle that turns pinion gears on the main shaft.
A chuck at the end of the shaft holds a drill bit. The opposite end of the shaft has a
second handle that is held stationary while the chuck turns. The drill bit is selected to
cut a hole of a specific width, such as 3/8 inch; the size typically is inscribed on the
bit's shaft.

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Innovation Hub

Design is not just what it looks like and feels

like. Design is how it works.
Steve
Jobs

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How it works ?
Electric Iron

In automatic type of electric iron, the pressure plate has a rectangular or

circular hole for locating the thermostat.

Working
When a current is passed through the heating element which is placed
between the sole plate and pressure plate, the element gets heated up and
transfers its heat to the sole plate through conduction and in-turn the sole
plate also gets heated up. Now to remove the wrinkles in clothing, we should
apply heat and pressure. Heat is formed due to the coil and when we press the
clothes with iron, the wrinkles are removed. For maintaining the optimum

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temperature, a thermostat is used along with pilot lamp which serves as an
indicator

How it works ?

LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a
basic pn-junction diode, which emits light when activated. When a fitting
voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine with electron
holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons.

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Working principle

Electroluminescence

Invented

Oleg Losev (1927)

James R. Biard (1961)
Nick Holonyak (1962)

First production

1968

Symbol of LED

How it works ?

Fuse :Wires get hot when electricity travels through them. That's how
ordinary, incandescent lamps work. Electricity flows through a very
thin wire called a filament making it so hot that it gives off light.
A fuse is exactly the same. It's a thin piece of wire designed to carry
a limited electrical current. If you try to pass a higher current
through the wire, it'll heat up so much that it burns or melts. When
it melts, it breaks the circuit it's fitted to and stops the current
flowing.

More recent fuseboxes have replaceable cartridge fuses with the

fuse wire built into a glass cylinder that you can easily snap in and

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How it works ?
out. The latest fuseboxes do away with fuses altogether and have
trip switches instead. If a fault occurs, the fusebox detects the
problem instantly and the trip switch automatically switches off
whichever circuits are affected.

How it works ?
MCB ( Miniature Circuit Breaker ) :Inside:

Principle :- An MCB functions by interrupting the continuity of electrical flow through the
circuit once a fault is detected. In simple terms MCB is a switch which automatically turns
off when the current flowing through it passes the maximum allowable limit. Generally

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MCB are designed to protect against over current and over temperature faults (over
heating).
There are two contacts one is fixed and the other moveable. When the current exceeds
the predefined limit a solenoid forces the moveable contact to open (i.e., disconnect from
the fixed contact) and the MCB turns off thereby stopping the current to flow in the circuit.
In order to restart the flow of current the MCB is manually turned on. This mechanism is
used to protect from the faults arising due to over current or over load.
To protect against fault arising due to over heating or increase in temperature a bi-metallic
strip is used. MCBs are generally designed to trip within 2.5 millisecond when an over
current fault arises. In case of temperature rise or over heating it may take 2 seconds to 2
minutes for the MCB to trip.

Tube light ( Fluorescent lamps )

Types

: Two types of fluorescent lamps:- Hot Cathode & Cold Cathode

Fluorescent lamps work by ionizing mercury vapor in a glass tube. This causes
electrons in the gas to emit photons at UV frequencies. The UV light is converted
into standard visible light using a phosphor coating on the inside of the tube.

The most common fluorescent lamp is the hot cathode:

Parts:
This lamp consists of a glass tube filled with an inert gas (usually argon) at low
pressure. On each side of the tube you will find a tungsten electrode. The ballast
regulates AC power to the electrodes. Older lamps used a starter to get the lamp
going. Modern lamps use pulse start which is done by components within the ballast.
Working

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1.) AC electric current passes through the ballast. The ballast will step up the voltage
and next the power passed through a 'choke' or 'reactor'. All arc discharge lamps need
a choke to limit current.
2.) The lamp's glass tube is called a discharge tube and it works by having electrons
pass from one electrode to the other. This forms what is called an "arc".
3.)To get the lamp started you need a spike of high voltage to get the arc started.
Voltage 'forces' current through the argon gas.Since creating a high voltage is a
challenge and dangerous, engineers figured out ways to 'preheat' the lamp, that way
less of a high voltage is required.
Use a Starter (startswitch) - This method is the first and arguably the most reliable
type of way to start a lamp according to some. Many facilities still have older fixtures
with starting switch preheat fluorescents.

Optical Mouse
An optical computer mouse uses a light source, typically a light-emitting diode, and a
light detector, such as an array of photodiodes or an image sensor, to detect
movement relative to a surface.
Inside an optical computer mouse
Here's the inside of a typical optical mouse and a few of the main components. The
most interesting bits are in the center (where the LED light shines down onto your
desk) and at the front (where button presses are detected by switches):

1. An LED at the back generates red light and shines it horizontally, from the back of the
mouse toward the front (from the left to the right of this photo).

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How it works ?
2. A plastic prism bends (refracts) the light from the LED at an angle, down onto the desk.
3. A light-detector chip measures light reflected back up from the desk, converting the analog
movements of your hand into digital signals that can be sent to your computer.
4. The scroll wheel at the front of the mouse is mounted on a switch mechanism that detects
both how much it's rotated and whether you've pressed it (it functions like the central button
of a conventional mouse). Rotations of the scroll wheel can be detected in a variety of
different ways. Some mice use potentiometers (broadly, variable resistors), similar to the
volume control on a radio but able to turn around multiple times. Others use various kinds
of rotary switches or optical (rotary) encoders to convert analog wheel movements to digital
signals.
5. A microswitch detects when you press the right mouse button. There's an identical switch
on the other side to detect the left mouse button.
6. The USB cable connection carries digital information from the mouse to your computer.

Electric Bell

The function of an electric bell relies on two things: the

opening and closing of a circuit and an electromagnet.
Working:-

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When power is running through the electric bell's circuit, an
electromagnet draws a mounted metal clapper towards the
bell, striking it. However, when the clapper is pulled by the
electromagnet, it breaks the bell's circuit. No longer drawn
in by the electromagnet, the clapper then falls back to its
resting position. Back at the resting position, the clapper
again completes the circuit, causing the current to pass
back through the electromagnet, which once again draws
the clapper toward the bell.

Fan Regulator (electronic)

The traditional regulators which are bulky use a resistance having taps and
connected in series with the fan. When we move the knob different amount of
resistance gets inserted in the circuit. Although cheap the biggest problem with
such a regulator is that a considerable amount of energy is lost in form of heat
through the resistance. When the fan is operating at low speed the power loss
is significant.

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The technologically superior electronic regulators overcome these

problems by using electronic components to control the speed of
the fan.
Some of the advantages of electronic fan regulators are:
1.

They provide a continuous speed control.

2.

Power saving at all the speeds.

3.

Smaller size and weight.

The heart of the electronic fan regulator is TRIAC. TRIAC is a

semiconductor device belonging to the family of thyristors.

Touch Screen
Touch-screen monitors have become more and more commonplace as their
price has steadily dropped over the past decade. There are three basic
systems that are used to recognize a person's touch:
Resistive

Capacitive

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How it works ?
The resistive system consists of a normal glass panel that is covered with a
conductive and a resistive metallic layer. These two layers are held apart by
spacers, and a scratch-resistant layer is placed on top of the whole setup. An
electrical current runs through the two layers while the monitor is operational.
When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact in that exact
spot. The change in the electrical field is noted and the coordinates of the point
of contact are calculated by the computer. Once the coordinates are known, a
special driver translates the touch into something that the operating system
can understand, much as a computer mouse driver translates a mouse's
movements into a click or a drag.

Resistive

Capacitive

In the capacitive system, a layer that stores electrical charge is placed

on the glass panel of the monitor. When a user touches the monitor with his or
her finger, some of the charge is transferred to the user, so the charge on the
capacitive layer decreases. This decrease is measured in circuits located at
each corner of the monitor. The computer calculates, from the relative
differences in charge at each corner, exactly where the touch event took place
and then relays that information to the touch-screen driver software. One
advantage that the capacitive system has over the resistive system is that it
transmits almost 90 percent of the light from the monitor, whereas the
resistive system only transmits about 75 percent. This gives the capacitive
system
a
much
clearer
picture
than
the.resistive.system.

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How it works ?

Stapler
A stapler works
by using force to push
a staple through the
paper, then secure the
pages together.
There are eight
significant parts that
come together to make
this happen, as labeled
in the diagram above.
First, the stapler itself
is composed mainly of
the Head
and the
base .Connected to the
head is the Magazine ,
which holds the staples.
The head is connected
to the base by a hangar
, which is soldered in
place. The pin at the
back of the stapler
allows the head to
swing up and down to
load staplesstaples
or in some
Working:-The
are loaded into magazine so that two points
models
open
up
completely
for base
use ofinthe stapler. The spring creates tension
face
towards the
tacking items. Inside
that
pushes
staples
toward the front of the stapler. When
there
are the
springs
that
have two purposes.
pressure
is applied
to the
One spring
pushes
the head of the stapler, the magazine
staples
down
the
pushes
downtoonreload
the paper,
magazine
the and a metal plate in the head of the
stapler.
The
other
stapler
staple down the magazine. The two
workspushes
to the
pullfront
the
stapler head back up
points are forced into the paper, piercing the pages until they
after it has stapled a
document
. On the base,
come
into contact
with the anvil. There is a curved groove
there is an anvil , which
a metal
that of
the
inisthe
anvil. plate
The ends
the staple are forced into this groove, where the
pressure forces them to end. They bend inwards, creating a lock around the
pages.