How Do Keys Work? 🔑

Morning locks and keys!

Alright, say I wanna open a door.

I'm gonna need the correct key, right?

But how do locks and keys actually work?

Well, the not so secret secret is that every single key has its own unique shape.

This unique shape is exactly what unlocks the lock and opens the door.

Now, the most common type of lock is something called a Pin Tumbler Lock.

Lemme show you how this works.

This is the actual thing you put in your door:

See the little hole inside the plug?

That's called the key way.

(I'm sure you can guess what that's for)

Now, inside the lock is where it gets interesting.

You can see that the inside has several vertical shafts going through both the case and the plug.

The spring bit presses down on the pins so they all rest naturally on the bottom of the lock.

You’ve probably noticed that all the pins seem to be all at different heights.

(This is important)

Because, in order to unlock this lock, the correct key has to push up these pins until they all line up with this line right here:

To demonstrate this NOT working, let's try the wrong key:

See how the pins aren't lined up with the shear line?

This means the plug won’t rotate, and won't unlock the door.

So what happens when you use the correct key?

The key slides in just like before.

But this time the pins all line up correctly with the specific shape of the key.

Allowing it to finally rotate… unlocking the door!

Stay Cute,
Reece, Henry & Dylan 🌈

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