How do touch screens work?

Question: How do touch screens work?

Asked by khughes08 to Hermine, Katy, Laura, Nathalie, Paula on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- Nathalie Pettorelli answered on 14 Jun 2010:
  
  Well you touch the screen and then you get get things appearing… 🙂
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen – ahhhh, wikipedia….has the answer to everything! 😉
- Paula Salgado answered on 14 Jun 2010:
  
  There is a variety of different technologies employed so it’s hard to give you a simple answer. Have a look here:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen
  
  But as always, information on wikipedia can be incomplete! 😉
- Laura Dixon answered on 15 Jun 2010:
  
  By touching them!! LOL Sorry, being cheeky. I actually have no idea of the technology behind touch screens.
- Katy Mee answered on 15 Jun 2010:
  
  Haha – I was just about to add a link to Wikipedia’s entry for touch screen then realised everyone else has already given it to you! I had no idea there were so many differtent types of touch screen…..all i know is greasey fingers and touch screen don’t mix so put the burger down when you’re using the laptop 😉
- Hermine Schnetler answered on 15 Jun 2010:
  
  Ever rung a door bell? What happens? Well, as you push the button, you force together two bits of metal and an electric current flows to ring the bell. Touch screens have two layers of electrical contacts which cover the whole screen. These are seperated by a small distance. When you touch the screen with your finger, you force the layers together and the point where you touch, which causes a small current to flow – just like in the dor bell. There are sensors around the edge of these two electrical layers which are used to work out exactly where the current was coming fromand so which bit of the screen you touched.

Question: How do touch screens work?

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