Electrostatics
Photocopier
What a Photocopier Does
Remember when we were kids and the photocopier was considered to be magic(well at least I did). Well it really wasn't magic. This is my blog explaining what a photocopier really does when it copies paper. Let me tell you a bi about the photocopier first. The photocopier simply copies a piece of paper. All you have to do is put the paper you want to copy inside of a lid, and within a couple of seconds, the copied piece of paper comes out.
How it Copies Paper
So, how does the photocopier copy the paper? Well, inside the photocopier, there is a drum. This drum can be charged with a form of static electricity. Also inside the copier, there is a very fine black powder we call toner (negative). When the drum is charged, it can attract particles from the toner. The drum can be selectively charged. This means that is will only attract some parts of the toner. In a copier, you make an image (in static electricity) along the surface of the drum. Where there is black on the original paper, will create static electricity on the drum and where there are white, empty spaces on the paper, you wont. Basically in this process, you want the white areas of the original sheet of paper not to attract the toner. The way this is selectively accomplished, is with the use of light. After all that, somehow the toner gets onto the drum and the drum starts to selectively attract the toner. After that, the sheet of paper gets charged with static electricity and pulls the toner off of the drum. For the last step, since the toner is heat sensitive, the looser toner particles get fused onto the sheet of paper and show themselves as heat.
Copiers: A Playful Look at How They Work