I’ve heard that the numbers on toaster dials meant minutes. Oh the lies I’ve been told!
Tom Scott has a more educational YouTube channel with a lot of interesting content. I may start posting more of his videos going forward. I’ve heard from either my husband or a tweet or reddit post that the numbers on a toaster dial equate to minutes of toast time. And yet, in this very short video, Tom Scott has proven that theory false!
From Tom Scott
There’s been a “Life Pro Tip” going around the internet lately saying that the numbers on toaster dials are actually minutes. I was so sure it was false. Oh, I was so sure. I got four toasters set to “2”, and I had one take to film it all in a back room at my office. This is that one take.
UPDATE: Dominic points out in the comments that modern toasters may not use bi-metallic strips: “the ‘old/basic’ way of doing this. What happens in more modern toasters is a capacitor is charged through a variable resistor. Once a specific voltage is reached in the capacitor it cuts off. The knob controls the variable resistor charging the capacitor.” Thanks!
For more science related videos, check out Mark Rober and his glitter bomb package contraption.
