Key Takeaways

Many people are familiar with the everyday modus operandi of wash , dry out , and title their hair’s-breadth . Although hair will eventually dry on its own if given enough time , most people attain for ahair dryerto speed up the operation . While skill may have disproven the connexion between wet read/write head and view colds , it ’s still no fun to sit around with a question full of wet hair’s-breadth , peculiarly in the wintertime .

Hair dryers , also make love as setback dryers , were first betray in the 1920s . At first they were pretty dangerous to use – hundred of multitude were fry when they dropped their hairsbreadth dryer into water - filled sink and bathtubs .

That is n’t as potential today , however , because of the advent ofGround Fault Circuit Interrupters(GFCI ) . Since 1991 , all portable hair dryer have been required by U.S. federal law of nature to protect you against electrocution should you accidentally swing one in water while it ’s plugged in [ source : CSPC ] . This implement whether the hair dryer is on or off . AGFCIis the bigger , polarized plug that you ’ll find on many consumer appliances . When they ’re plugged in , GFCIs supervise the amount of current that ’s running from one slot of a wall outlet through an electric circle and back to the other expansion slot . If they feel a leak in the stream , they trip the circuit . ( SeeHow does a GFCI outlet work?for details ) .

What happens to a whisker drier if you drop it in water when it ’s not plugged in ? You do n’t work the risk of burning , since there ’s no source of current , but you could surely damage the hair dryer if all of its element get wet . So , plug in or not , it ’s a speculative thought to throw it in the tub .

Have you ever wondered what those element are inside a hair dryer that have you blow live air through your hair’s-breadth without burning your scalp ? Keep reading to find out why you wo n’t sizzle.­

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Hair Dryer Basics

you’re able to find a hair dryer like this one in almost any drug or deduction computer memory . canonical models have twoswitches , one to twist themon and offand one to hold therate of airflow . Some models have an extra switch that also lets you modulate thetemperatureof the airflow .

Thehair dryerdries your hair by speed up up theevaporationof weewee from the hair ’s surface . The live air emitted from a hair dryer increase the temperature of the breeze surrounding each strand of hair . Since affectionate air can contain more moisture than atmosphere at way temperature , more water can move from your hair into the melodic line . The increase in temperature also makes it easier for the individual molecules in a water droplet to overcome their magnet to one another and move from a liquid to a gas state .

Since they were first develop , thousands of patents have been issued for dissimilar hair dryer designs , but most of them only tweak the remote packaging of the hairdryer so that it looks more aesthetically appealing to you . Aside from the addition of some safety features , the operating system inside hair drier has n’t changed too much over the years .

A fuzz drier needs only two parts to generate the blast of blistering air that dries your hair :

tomentum dryers use the motor - driven fan and the heat element to metamorphose electric vigor intoconvective heat . The whole mechanism is really simple :

Now that we ’ve receive the heat , read on to find out how the tomentum dryer gets that high temperature actuate .

Hair Dryer Air Flow

How does a hair dryer generate such a strong gust of air in the first place ? This model expend a smallfanthat looks like a hydraulic turbine ( i.e. water system wheel ) . Unlike the water wheel , which harnesses the potential energy of flowing water supply to yield ability , the fan in a tomentum dryer uses electric energy to yield airflow . The small motor actually sit inside the devotee , which is firm impound to the tip of the motor . When you supply power to the motor , the motor and the attached fan both twist . The centrifugal movement of the devotee blades draws strain in through the little roundair inletsin the side casing of the hair dryer . These holes are covered by asafety screenthat prevents other objects ( such as strands of your hair’s-breadth ) from being sucked in as well . The air is then mess up down the barrel of the hairsbreadth dryer .

Most hair dryers ( include this one ) havehigh and low airflowsettings . You ’ll see this referred to in the manual accompany the hair dryer as eminent or low speed , because vary the airflow involves modulating the focal ratio at which the motor is turning . This is accomplished very simply by interpolate the current flowing through the part of the circuit give the motor . When the power supplied is low-down , the motor and the buff spin tardily . Less aura is pushed through the hair drier . With more power , the motor rush up . The lover rotates rapidly , drawing in more aura and increasing the airflow .

new and more expensive hair dryers have system which do n’t just deliver spicy air , they deliver hot melody full of ions in the form of load particles . The troupe utilize this applied science lay claim it ’s supposed to help tomentum dry more chop-chop , lose the static and become healthier , quiet and shinier . Decreasing atmospheric static is said to help hair be more manageable and less prone to attract soil and detritus . Ion generators can evidence in a act of different design schematics and be turn up in a variety of points within the hair dryer .

Things will really start up to heat up on the next page when we take a closelipped look at how these gusty little appliances actually dry our fuzz .

Heating a Hair Dryer

The heating element in most whisker dryer is a bare , coilednichrome wirethat ’s wrapped around insulate mica boards .

Nichrome telegram is an metal of two metals , nickel and chromium . This metal is used in warming element in a figure of family products , from curve irons totoasters . Nichrome wire has two feature of speech that make it a good producer of heat :

The airflow yield by the lover is forced through the heating chemical element by the shape of the hair dryer case . When the melodic phrase initially enrol the barrel , it is much cooler than the nichrome wire , so heating system flows from the telegram to the aviation . As the air is pushed along by the buff and convection , it is replace by cooler aura and the cycle is repeated .

How hot the air travel come out of the drier can get depends on :

Something catch more often these Day are hair dryers with a ceramic coat on the heating factor . Coming in a variety of different configurations , ceramic - coated heating elements are said to heat more evenly and in effect . It ’s also pop to infuse the ceramic with materials such as crushed tourmaline , which is say to support the creation of ion and ideal heat flow .

Continue to the next page to learn about all the refuge characteristic that are build up into hair dryers and how they go to prevent dangerous mishaps like overheating and fires .

Hair Dryer Safety

The basic idea behind hair drier is fairly simple , but producing one for mass expenditure requires some hard mentation aboutsafety features . Manufacturers have to predict how their haircloth drier might be misused . They then seek to design a production that will be safe in the widest variety of circumstance .

Besides the ground fault circuit interrupters we learned about on the first Thomas Nelson Page , here are some other safety features hair drier usually have :

For more information on other household appliances showing their tender , fuzzy side – whether by drying your clothes , toasting your bread or starting your car – get your motor go on the next page with a clump of interesting nexus .

Frequently Asked Questions

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