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How dangerous is it?

In normal use they are safe, after all they are safety devices, but mechanical locks contain small parts that children can choke on and electronic locks contain electricity, which can give a nasty shock or even electrocute you.

A lock on a door may get in the way if your trying to leave a building that is, for example, on fire.

Never give a combination or key to someone you don't know or can't trust, nor should you go taking apart or trying to pick your parents locks.

What does it do?

It stops people from stealing other peoples stuff, but it can also be used to stop someone from doing something they need permission to do.

How does it vary?

This is a pin tumbler lock

There are many kinds of lock and many things that have a lock on them, a metal box with a lock is called a safe, a big safe is called a vault, some locks use electronics, but most locks are mechanical, some use a combination (a secret code) and some use a key, there's even different kinds of lock that work differently and have different looking keys.

A padlock is a kind of lock that can be used to lock two things together, and a bike lock is used to attach a bike to something else so it can't be stolen.

The most common kind of lock is the pin tumbler.

How has it changed the world?

Locks and other security devices invented since have made the world a more secure place, while a determined thief can find anyway into something even if it is locked, the presence of a lock deters petty and opertunistic thefts.

Locks can be found everywhere, in your house, in your parents car, at school, at shops, and are often used with other security devices like alarms and Closed Circuit Television.

Today security is a big industry thanks to locks, and it's impossible to even think about living without locks.

Where does it get it's power from?

Mechanical locks do most of the work from the user turning the key, electronic locks used in buildings get their power from the grid, and electronic safes and padlocks have a battery, all kinds of electronic lock have a backup so you can't get trapped or locked out if the power fails.

How does it work?

There are many kinds of lock, but the basic concept is the same, it's a thing that only lets you access or do something if you have proof of who you are, this proof is called a key, it can be a real thing you hold, or it can be something you remember, like a secret word or combination of numbers, while the lock itself is attached to something that needs protecting, like a door, so without the key, the door can't be opened, this is normally because the lock is holding a strong piece of metal called a bolt extending into the door frame and stopping the door from moving, padlocks also use bolts to stop the shackle from being opened.

The most common kind of lock is the pin tumbler lock, and this is what we will be focusing on, it uses a physical key.

The Lock It's attached to something it's protecting, in this example a door on a house, it sits in a hole inside the door, and consists of a freely spinning plug inside the

Inside of a Pin tumbler lock, the cylinder is green, plug is yellow, key pins are red and the driver pins are blue, notice the gap between the plug and cylinder

main cylinder of the lock, in this plug there is a slit or hole called the keyhole or keyway, and this is where the key goes.

With the right key (silver) all pins are lifted to the right height, the gaps line up and the lock can rotate, the driver pens are left in the cylinder

On the top of the rotating plug there is a series of holes in a straight line, there is also a matching set of holes inside the main cylinder of the lock where the plug will sit, inside of these holes there are springs and sitting on these springs there are pins all of the same height, called driver pins, and in the holes on the rotating plug there's more pins, all of them are a different height, these are called key pins, and all these things are put together as to make a mechanism, the rotating plug sits inside the main cylinder, and a clip stops it from being pulled out.

There is both a gap where the key and driver pins meet and there is also a gap between the main cylinder and the plug, these two gaps don't line up, stopping the cylinder from rotating, for the plug to spin freely, all the gaps between the pins need to line up with the gap between the plug and main cylinder, this is done by pushing the pins up to the right height with the key.

The Key It's normally made of metal and consists of a flat part that lets you hold it between your fingers, it has a long straight part called the blade, which is the part that goes into the keyhole on the lock, parts of the blade are cut away to make teeth and these teeth are called bitting, it's the wavy part of a key, when the key is put into the lock, each tooth pushes it's respective pin up til the point that both gaps meet, and the plug can rotate, the plug is attached to a complex mechanism that retracts the bolt and allows the door to be opened.

There are however many types of lock, some don't use a real key, for example you may see locks that have buttons on them, and each button can either be a letter or number, and the lock needs the right combination of buttons pushed for it to open, this kind of lock is called a combination lock, and the secret combination of letters, numbers or both is remembered by the person who uses it, combination locks can be electronic or mechanical.

Some electronic locks do use a physical key, but a different kind, for example a biometric lock scans your finger print or your face, and a keycard lock needs a special card to be unlocked, the card contains a secret word that the lock is looking for.

There are also lots of kinds of lock that do use a real key, pin tumblers are just one example, there are also wafer tumblers, disc tumblers, lever tumblers, and warded locks, the oldest known kind of lock.

Lock Picking

Lock picking is a way of opening a lock without the key, it works by sticking special tools in the keyhole and feeling around for internal parts, like the pins in a pin tumbler lock, if done properly it can leave behind no trace of unauthorized access, but not many burglars do it, since it requires practice, time, and knowledge of the inside of the particular kind of lock, it's illegal to pick a lock that isn't yours, and if you don't know what your doing you can break the lock.

Locksport is the legal use of lock picking as a skill for recreation, similar to a puzzle, people who practice locksport buy and collect different kinds of lock just to pick open, in most countries it's legal to have lock picking tools in your house but not to carry them, since they can be used for burglary, however in some countries it's illegal to even have lock picking tools in your house.