How does a vacuum cleaner pick up dirt?
Suction's Secret Ride
How does a vacuum cleaner pick up dirt?
You press the button, the vacuum roars to life, and somehow dirt jumps off the floor and vanishes into the machine. No hands. No broom. Just noise and suction. How does it grab stuff without grabbing?
Inside the vacuum, a motor spins a fan incredibly fast — hundreds of times per second. That spinning fan is the secret. It flings air backward, away from the floor, creating a zone of thin air right at the nozzle. Nature hates empty space, so air from the room rushes in to fill the gap. That rushing air is what we call suction.
