eli5 what goes on inside your phone when it vibrates
In: 2217
There are 2 possible ways:
The first way is a tiny motor that spins a tiny weight around. It is similar to why a car engine vibrates when it’s running. There are a lot of spinning parts and they are not perfectly balanced and so you feel the vibration. The vibration motor and weight in your phone are purposely designed to be unbalanced in order to generate more vibration. The name of this is an eccentric rotating mass (ERM). Eccentric=unbalanced
The second method is more common in newer phones. It works using a tiny metal weight with an electric coil wrapped around it. When electricity is run through the coil the weight moves towards one side, and when the electricity is run in reverse the weight moves towards the opposite side. The electricity is flipped back forth really really fast and that moves the weight back and forth really really fast and that is what you are feeling. This is called an linear resonant actuator (LRA). Linear=the weight moves back and forth in a line instead of rotating like in a ERM
The LRA is the same concept as a speaker. In a speaker the coil moves a cone back and forth which then moves the air and makes sound. It is also the same way a doorbell works. In a doorbell the coil pushes the weight into a bell to make the ding.
Latest Answers