Book 1, Question 115
How Does a Zipper Work? Teeth, Tape and a Sneaky Slider!
A zipper is a clever machine with just a few parts. Each side has a row of teeth, and the slider wedges the teeth together as you pull it up. Pull it the other way and the wedge splits them apart again. The page labels the teeth, the tape that holds them, the slider and the pull tab, and it says one crooked tooth can jam the whole line. Zip slowly and watch the teeth lock!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 1
More fun facts
- Zippers have only been around for just over a century, and they weren't widely used until the 1930s.
- A Swedish inventor named Gideon Sundback designed the zipper that became popular.
- The name zipper came from a boot company boss who used early zippers on boots and wanted a catchy name.
- By the end of World War II, one company was selling 500 million zippers a year.
- Look at a zipper and you might see the letters YKK. That Japanese company stamps them on about 7 billion zippers a year.
- For a zipper to work, the two rows of teeth must line up perfectly as the slider pulls them together.
- An engineer invented the first one-handed zipper after a simple request from his mom.
Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
Who invented the zipper?
Swedish inventor Gideon Sundback designed the zipper that became popular.
What does YKK on a zipper mean?
It's the name of a Japanese company that makes about 7 billion zippers a year.