How does a fan work?

Tilted blades, a magnetic field that spins, and a breeze that cools you without cooling the air. An electric fan is a motor with a hub of tilted blades on its shaft, a wire guard around them, and a switch or regulator to set the speed.

Read how it works: How does a fan work? · The history of the fan · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. Inside a desk fan: A motor, a few tilted blades, a wire guard and a switch.
2. How tilted blades push air: Each blade is a slanted paddle that shoves air one way as it sweeps round.
3. How the motor spins: Coils make a magnetic field that turns, and it drags the rotor round.
4. Faster fans, much hungrier motors: Twice the speed moves twice the air, but needs eight times the power.
5. Why a fan feels cool: It doesn’t cool the air. It strips the warm, damp layer off your skin.
6. How the head swings: A worm gear slows the motor 240 times; a crank and a link do the rest.