How do bar codes work?

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Bar codes are actually pretty well named. They are types of codes that use bars of different widths to tell a computer information. We usually see them on packaged goods and other things we find in grocery stores.

At the registers, when we go to pay for the things we buy, there are scanners that use lasers to read the bar codes and send that information to computers. The scanners are very sensitive, and they get their information from laser light that is reflected back to them. They would have a pretty hard time figuring out the difference between the light reflected off a printed number “2” or the number “3,” but they can tell the difference between a solid, black bar and an empty, white space. The computers can decode the bars and spaces and figure out that they mean certain numbers. Those numbers match a certain product in the store.

If you are ever curious what the coded numbers are, they are usually written right underneath the bar code. The numbers on the left generally tell the computer who the manufacturer is (or who made the product.) The numbers on the right generally tell the computer what type of product something is. 

Creative Coding!

Have you ever made a secret code with your friends or family before? Normally people use letters or numbers to mean different letters and numbers. a=Z, B =Y, and so on.

Have you thought about using different shapes to mean different letters? Or different line sizes like bar codes use? What sort of creative codes can you come up with?

You don’t need computer scanners to do this. It can be really simple. Just have a “key” that you can share with your friends or family that tells them what the symbols in your code mean.