How Does a Zipper Work? - Design squad

Hi, I'm Deysi from Design Squad. And we got an anonymous question from someone that wanted to know, how does a zipper work? That's a really good question. I think zippers are really handy. Zippers solve the problem of being able to close two pieces of fabric together, like on a jacket or a bag, quickly. Before, your only options were buttons and snaps. The hook and wedge is what allows the zipper to open and close. The hooks are the teeth of the zipper. They are offset from one another. That means they don't line up. As they are pulled towards one another, they connect in sequence. The wedge is the pull part of the zipper. It's made of two inclined planes put together. The wedge pushes the hooks together at specific angles to close it. The force extended by the wedge is perpendicular to the way that the wedge is moving. You can see this force in action when you push a door stop under a door. The force is directed to the bottom of the door. And there you go. If you have any other questions about how things are engineered, zip them on in to the Design Squad website.