I want to be able to visualize it. Is it like putting a trigger on it or something?
In: Engineering
Depending on the accuracy of the timer it sets your desired time in seconds (milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds) in the future and counts down. Depending on the accuracy of the timer there are several ways it can “count” with the most common being a crystal. When a voltage is applied to the crystal it vibrates at a known frequency and the timer circuit counts that specific number of vibrations to reach your set time. Then there’s more software and hardware that determines what to do when it reaches zero; sound a buzzer, complete a circuit, etc. This is for hardware timers. For software-only timers like on a smartphone the software does all of the timing based on the computer’s clock.
An alarm clock works essentially the same way with more accurate versions using a “real-time clock” circuit
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