How your phone knows which way is up

How your phone knows which way is up

Your phone turns the screen because a speck of silicon sags.

Inside is a motion sensor: a tiny mass on springs, with comb teeth between fixed teeth. Gravity pulls it down. Tip the phone and gravity splits: at 45° it is 0.71 g sideways and 0.71 g down. Past that, sideways wins and the screen turns.

Send it to someone who keeps their rotation lock on.

#smartphone #accelerometer #howitworks #techexplained