Touch Pads

While sitting here trying to think of a blog topic, I noticed a little rectangular area on my computer called a touch pad.  I always had wondered how these little things worked because I noticed that the motion registers only when I used a body part but not when I used an eraser.  So my first assumption was that it worked by motion sensor but then I realized that my computer is always very hot which would make the touch pad overheat or something…so…with that idea not possible, I decided that I would Google for the answer.  (Not bing…I tried using that but it didn’t have the same results as Google)

Touch Pad!

I found out that the touch pad works through capacitance; meaning that only something with electrical charge will trigger the touch pad.  This is a system with wires overlaid each other and a change in the capacitance when your finger moves across it registers motion and thus moves the mouse.  So technically if you were to slide a piece of ham or hot dog over it, I would think it should work…if you ever try this, please let me know the results as I do like my touch pad and my laptop.