Inside objects
Open an everyday object conceptually and follow its materials, elements and design choices.
What is inside a smartphone?
A smartphone concentrates an extraordinary range of elements into a device that fits in one hand.
What is inside a lithium-ion battery?
A lithium-ion battery stores energy by moving lithium ions between two electrodes through an electrolyte.
What is a bicycle made of?
A bicycle is mechanically simple, but its materials balance mass, strength, stiffness, wear and cost.
What is inside a solar panel?
Most photovoltaic modules use silicon cells, but a finished panel contains glass, metals and polymers as well.
What is inside an LED bulb?
An LED bulb combines semiconductor materials, metals, ceramics or polymers and power electronics in a surprisingly small package.
What is inside an electric car?
An electric car is not just a large battery. It combines battery chemistry, power electronics, an electric motor and the same structural materials found in other vehicles.
What is inside a USB cable?
A USB cable looks simple from the outside, but inside it must carry power and high-speed electrical signals while surviving repeated bending.
What is window glass made of?
Ordinary window glass is not pure silica. It is usually a soda-lime-silica glass designed to melt, form and survive everyday use more easily.
What is inside a stainless-steel pan?
Stainless steel resists corrosion, but cookware often combines it with other metals to move heat better.
What is an aluminium can made of?
A drinks can looks simple, but body, lid and inner coating have different jobs.
What is a mirror made of?
The glass gives the mirror its shape; a very thin metal layer does most of the reflecting.
What is a ceramic mug made of?
A ceramic mug begins as mineral-rich clay and becomes a hard, durable material through firing.
How does a scale work? From balance weights to digital sensors
For centuries, weighing meant comparing an unknown mass with known masses. Today, a kitchen scale turns a tiny deformation into an electrical signal.
How does a thermometer work?
A thermometer turns a temperature-dependent physical change into a readable value.
How does a pressure cooker work?
A pressure cooker raises the boiling temperature of water by allowing pressure to build inside a sealed vessel.
How does a refrigerator make things cold?
A refrigerator does not create cold: it moves thermal energy from inside the cabinet to the room.
How does a microwave oven heat food?
Microwaves create an oscillating electric field that makes polar molecules, especially water, continually reorient; molecular motion and collisions turn that absorbed electromagnetic energy into heat.
How does a loudspeaker turn electricity into sound?
A loudspeaker sends an alternating current through a coil placed in a magnetic field. The changing electromagnetic force moves the coil and attached cone back and forth, pushing air and creating pressure waves that we hear as sound.
How does an induction cooktop heat a pan?
A coil beneath the glass creates a rapidly changing magnetic field. In suitable cookware, that field induces electrical currents; electrical resistance dissipates their energy as heat directly in the pan.