A hair dryer (also known as a blow dryer) is an electromechanical device that blows hot or warm air over damp hair to speed the evaporation of water and help shape the style of a person’s hair. People also use styling products and combs to add volume, discipline or hold to their hairstyles.
The basic operating system of a hair dryer hasn’t changed much since they were first developed. When you flip a switch on a hair dryer it supplies power to a small electric motor that spins a fan. This in turn draws air through the hair dryer casing, over and through a heating element, warming it up. The heat generated by the nichrome wire (or in some more expensive models a tourmaline-infused ceramic coating) then passes through the hair dryer’s nozzle and out the end of the barrel.
Hair dryers are usually plugged into wall outlets with larger, polarized plugs that prevent accidental contact with water. If you accidentally drop a hair dryer into a sink or tub full of water it will short circuit and stop working. This is not so safe for the owner, and there were hundreds of reported cases of accidental electrocution by hair dryers before the introduction of GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupters) which are now built into all portable appliances that are likely to be dropped into water.
GFCIs monitor current passing from one slot of an outlet through the electric circuit to another and back again. If they detect a fault in the current, like an appliance dropping into water, they will cut off power to the appliance so that it won’t continue to conduct electricity. hairdryer