I know we have all been in that situation, either in a bus, train, or classroom, when that one miscellaneous cell phone starts to buzz. Quickly a sea of heads looks right, left, behind, and in front if not having sought down into their own bags or pockets, trying to find this vibrating mobile. Now that everyone in the civilized world has acquired this device, unless your ring tone resembles Buy U A Drank or Summer Love, it might be a little embarrassing to put one of those pre-recorded tunes that Verizon downloaded into your phone. Sometimes you just have to vibrate like everyone else in the room. So what makes a phone vibrate that perfect pitch?

The process is very simple, as Howstuffworks.com performed an autopsy on a Tickle-Me-Elmo to discover this exact answer. The doll’s shaking is comparable to a phone’s vibration, which can be explained through the interaction between a quaint flywheel motor and a weight. The weight, approximately that of five nickels, is attached off-center on a gear. As soon as the motor instigates the gear-weight system to turn at speeds of 100 to 150 RPM, a vibration action is immediately caused. This system would be replicated in a smaller version to fit inside your cell phone, but the principles and setup remains virtually the same.

In the end, you always are forced to silence or vibrate your phone when you enter a movie theater or a lecture. And despite your impassioned desire to listen to T-Paine and JT, social etiquette demands otherwise. At least now, you know what happens as you search for your vibrating phone, gears, weight and all!

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