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How does a zipper work? |
by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
Zip, sizzle, click!
There are lots of ways to keep your coats and pants and sweatshirts warmly wrapped around you, like buttons, snaps, hooks, and bowties. Then there are zippers, which are just as helpful as the other ways, but slightly more mysterious. How do they work?
There are two main parts on every zipper -- the part you pull, called the “slide,” and the parts on either side of the item being zipped, called the “teeth.”
Look up close at the teeth of a zipper on something you own. They’re shaped like little hooks! They’re made that way so they can connect (hook) and disconnect (unhook) from each other as you pull the slide up and down! The slide brings the two rows of teeth together to ZIP closed and then pulls them away again when you UNZIP!
Zip, sizzle, click!
You might say that the word zipper seems similar to the “zipping” sound that is made when a zipper is used!
Can you think of some other words that also come from a sound?
Some examples are when your scrambled eggs sizzle in the pan, a door that clicks shut, a buzzer on the alarm clock, someone slurping a drink, splashing into the water, and even hiccups!
Other languages also have words that come from the sound they describe! Do you know of any??
