1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vocal Bam here with a classic episode 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: from former host Christian Sager, and this one we explore 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: how the traditional electro mechanical car horn works. And we 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: were doing a whole mad Max Fury road thing, which 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: I hope holds up. My name is Christian, My world 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: is fire and blood. Once I honked the horn of 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: my Interceptive Pursuit Special, it's hard to know who was 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: more crazy, me or everyone else. No, really, when people 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: haunk car horns, they're pretty freaking aggressive. Research shows were 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: more likely to do it when it's hot outside, when 12 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: it's a weekday, And if you're male, that's right, war boys. 13 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: Here in the US, your run of the mill car 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: horn is a hundred and ten decibels of sustained noise. 15 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: While the vehicle horns of yesteryear had different com nations 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: of notes, today they're mostly regulated to sound the same 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: and the law requires you to have a car horn. 18 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: If they're so important, Let's talk about how car horns work. 19 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: Typical car horns these days are electro mechanical. There are 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: two horns per vehicle, usually each sounding at a different 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: pitch to produce a cord. These horns generally consist of 22 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: a spring, steel diaphragm, a coiled wire, a switch, and 23 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: housing that amplifies sound like a megaphone. All of this 24 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: is mounted somewhere behind your vehicle's grill. So when you 25 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: slam your hand on that steering wheel button with a 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: little trumpet symbol on it, it sends an electrical current 27 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: through a relay and onto a copper coil that supplies 28 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: electricity to the horn. To create such a loud sound 29 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: takes a lot of energy. In fact, the only accessory 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: that uses more juice in your car is the starter. 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: The all trickle currents surging into the horn creates a 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: magnetic field. This field causes the flat circular diaphragm inside 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: to oscillate. The oscillation is set up by the diaphragm 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: flexing to its mechanical limit and then releasing back past 35 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: its neutral position, only to be pulled forward again. This 36 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: functions by using the basic law of elasticity, also known 37 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: as Hook's law because it was formulated in the seventeenth 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: century by an English scientist named Robert Hook. The law 39 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: states that the strain of a body is proportional to 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: the stress applied to the body. What this means for 41 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: the car horn is that it's diaphragm will oscillate continuously 42 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: as long as the current is applied. There are also 43 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: other types of horns used in vehicles, air horns, claxon's 44 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: whistles similar to organ pipes, and even sirens like we 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: see on emergency vehicles, but the electro magnetic car horn 46 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: is the most common one you're going to find out 47 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: there in the waste land. Now that you're armed with 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: this knowledge, you should be ready to grab the sun 49 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: and ride into Valhalla. Today's episode was written by Christian 50 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of 51 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: i Heeart Radios has Stuff Works. For more in this 52 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: and lots of other topics that are shiny and chrome, 53 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: visit our home planet has to Works dot com and 54 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: for more. Podcasts from my Heart Radio is the i 55 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 56 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.