I can’t seem to understand the engineering behind non-push buttons. Take for example my coffee maker. I tap my finger on the top of it and it turns on, but theres no physical button, just the power symbol. I figured this would be more fun than asking google.
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> I figured this would be more fun than asking google.
🙁
Well, you have **Capacitive button** to search now at least for more reading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_sensing
A pushbutton or any mechanical switch is pretty simple. You open or close a circuit, allowing electricity to flow. A capacitive sensor works by detecting the presence or absence of something other than air. A conceptually similar example might be a light detector that changes signal when it is covered. So when detecting that, the system then does whatever it would do if the electrical signal was changed.
The short version is that the electricity behaves differently when a water-and-salt-filled body (i.e. your finger) is at that surface.
A difference is that with a switch, you could directly send the power through, like for simple light switches. The others it’s like telling another system to throw a switch. This includes **electrical relays**, where a smaller signal operates a larger switch, but also the electronic ones.
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