How do remote controls work?

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Remote controls are pretty helpful -- with just the press of a button, you can change the channel on the TV, turn on the air conditioner, or make the garage door open! Is it magic??

Even though they work magically-well, remote controls actually work thanks to light! (Instead of super-powers.) Have you ever looked at the tip of your TV remote? There’s a small little spot on the end that usually looks like a plastic bead or a fake eye! This little “eye” on the end of the remote sends out a special signal of light when you press the buttons on the remote. The light is a type of light that you can’t see, but a sensor on the TV can detect the it. Depending on which button you press, the light lashes in different sequences, like two short blinks and one long blink. The TV knows which blinks mean “volume up” and which blinks mean “channel seven”! 

Control yourself!

Find out if your family has an old remote control belonging to a piece of equipment you no longer use, or maybe one that has broken. Ask a grown-up to help you take it apart one afternoon so you can get a look inside! If you don’t already have an old remote in the house, you might be able to get an inexpensive one at the store, or find a friend who has one you can use. Otherwise, you can also look for a picture of one somewhere on the Internet!

Do you see lots of wires, and the paths they lead along? Information travels along these paths and tells the remote what to do! Can you trace any of them back to the buttons they were attached to??

Does the inside of the remote look the way you imagined it would?