WEBVTT - How does a toaster work?

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi Am Marshall

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<v Speaker 1>Brain with today's question, how does a toaster work? If

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<v Speaker 1>you eat bread? Chances are that you have a toaster.

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<v Speaker 1>Nearly every household has one. It's a device with amazing

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<v Speaker 1>market penetration. Have you ever wondered how your toaster works?

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<v Speaker 1>And before answering that question, have you ever wondered why

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<v Speaker 1>human beings like toast? What makes toasted bread so popular? Bread,

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<v Speaker 1>of course is nice. It's soft, chewy, delicious, a good

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<v Speaker 1>way to enjoy we But that softness creates a structural

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<v Speaker 1>problem that toast can solve. Dipping a piece of normal

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<v Speaker 1>white bread in soup usually results in a saggy mess.

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<v Speaker 1>Toast is much stronger, so it can hold up to

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<v Speaker 1>soup dipping without difficulty. The other reason for toast has

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<v Speaker 1>to do with flavor. When you make toast, you're activating

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<v Speaker 1>something called the mayor reaction on the surface of the bread.

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<v Speaker 1>This reaction is what causes the browning to occur. The

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<v Speaker 1>heat inside the toaster boils off the moisture from the

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<v Speaker 1>surface of the bread, and then the surface gets hot

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<v Speaker 1>enough for the reaction to take place. It is a

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<v Speaker 1>reaction that appeals to the senses we see. The result

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<v Speaker 1>of the reaction is browning, sugars and proteins combined together

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<v Speaker 1>to create the pleasant flavors and smells that we associate

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<v Speaker 1>with toast. A toaster gives us an automatic and convenient

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<v Speaker 1>way to activate this reaction whenever we need it. The

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<v Speaker 1>convenience is the key to a toaster's appeal. You could,

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<v Speaker 1>if you were patient, just hold a slice of bread

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<v Speaker 1>over a hot stove burner with a fork to toast it,

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<v Speaker 1>but that would be a lot of bother So to

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<v Speaker 1>make an automatic toaster, you need four things. First, you

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<v Speaker 1>need a source of heat similar to a stove burner. Second,

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<v Speaker 1>you need a switch that turns on that source of heat. Third,

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<v Speaker 1>you need a timer to turn off the source of heat.

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<v Speaker 1>And then you need a mechanism to hold and pop

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<v Speaker 1>up the toast. The source of heat is almost always

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<v Speaker 1>created by running electricity through something called nichrome wire. Nichrome

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<v Speaker 1>wire is an alloy made of nickel and chromium, and

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<v Speaker 1>it has two important features. First, when you pass electricity

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<v Speaker 1>through this wire, the wire heats up red hot. When

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<v Speaker 1>you look inside your toaster and see the glowing red coils,

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<v Speaker 1>you are seeing the result of electricity running through nichrome wire. Second,

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<v Speaker 1>nichrome wire does not corrode from the heat like many

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<v Speaker 1>other metals would. The simplicity and durability of nichrome wire

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<v Speaker 1>makes it a common source of heat and everything from

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<v Speaker 1>blow dryers to space heaters. If you were to take

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<v Speaker 1>a coil of nichrome wire and plug it straight into

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<v Speaker 1>a wall socket, it would glow red hot. If you

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<v Speaker 1>wrap it around something that can handle heat, like glass

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<v Speaker 1>or ceramic, you have the heating element. In a toaster.

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<v Speaker 1>A simple vertical tray in a spring can lower the

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<v Speaker 1>bread down between the toasters heating elements. When the tray

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<v Speaker 1>hits the bottom, it can flip a switch that turns

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<v Speaker 1>on the electricity and starts the toasting process. Now, we

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<v Speaker 1>need a way to keep the tray down. In most

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<v Speaker 1>modern toasters, this involves an electromagnet. The same switch that

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<v Speaker 1>activates the heating elements also turns on this electromagnet. It's

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<v Speaker 1>magnetic field holds the tray down until the toasting process

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<v Speaker 1>is complete. And finally, there's a timer. When you set

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<v Speaker 1>the dial on the toaster, that dial controls the amount

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<v Speaker 1>of time that the tray stays down. Once time is up,

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<v Speaker 1>the timer flips the switch off. This takes the power

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<v Speaker 1>away from the heating elements as well as from the electromagnet.

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<v Speaker 1>Without the magnetic field to hold the tray down, the

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<v Speaker 1>spring pops the tray up and your toast is served.

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<v Speaker 1>The next time you make a slice of toast, you

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<v Speaker 1>will now know what goes into it. A simple piece

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<v Speaker 1>of wire is creating the heat. An electromagnet keeps the

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<v Speaker 1>toast in place. A timer turns off both the heat

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<v Speaker 1>and the magnetic field, so your toast pops up automatically

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<v Speaker 1>with a spring, and it's all happening to activate the

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<v Speaker 1>mayor reaction, a reaction that creates taste and smells that

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<v Speaker 1>many people enjoy. For more on this and thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics. Because it hostof works dot com streaming TV

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<v Speaker 1>TV and movies on your PC, mac, mobile device, or

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<v Speaker 1>Go to Netflix dot com slash brain stuff and sign

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