YouTuber Tom Scott wanted to find out if the numbers on toaster dials are actually minutes
Just what do the numbers on the toasters actually mean? Are they the number the minutes that the toast will cook for? Tom theorized that the numbers DO NOT pertain to actual minutes. He set toasters from different brands to "2" and found out.
As it turns out, modern toasters have a capacitor that is charged through a variable resistor. Once that specific voltage is reached in the capacitor the toaster shuts off.