Despite the title of this article, I am writing it late. “Why?” You may ask. Because I am a forgetful, silly person. Copy Editors, please forgive me. Anyway, I thought the idea of locking in was pretty apt for the beginning of a new semester. Not so much for my last, or so I thought. I told myself I wanted to read more this year and paid a trip to Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, they do say that you should be careful what you wish for. Syllabus Week quickly showed that I would be doing plenty of reading for my own edification for my courses this semester, not to mention a 12-page, single-spaced paper. But enough about me!
As long as people have had things they’d like to protect, there have been people that want to yoink said valuables. While there are many methods to protect those things you hold most dear, at least of the physical variety, none are more eponymous than the lock. There are many different types of locks ranging in effectiveness from great to you having better chances waiting for a thief with a brick in hand. Most locks you’ll see today are called pin tumbler locks. Essentially, you restrict something from being opened by sliding or rotating a bolt or arm in place. The only way to slide back the arm is to rotate or slide the chamber it’s attached to. Here’s the kicker: there are pins that impede the movement of this chamber. All a key really does is move the pins into the proper position so that the chamber is free to move. The earliest example of a lock like this comes from ancient Egypt. It was used to lock doors and gates.
The most common application for these locks is still doors to this day. The rotating chamber is the plug, and the rest of the lock structure that does not move is the housing. The pins are actually paired up with key pins on the bottom and driver pins on top. Driver pins are always the same length, but key pins are varied in length to alter the type of key that can unlock a door. As the proper key is inserted, the key pins will be raised to the exact height of the gap between the housing and plug. This will allow the plug to rotate through the gap between the paired pins and turn. The turning of the plug will either extend or retract a bolt that keeps the door shut.
Of course, this is not a perfect system. Lock picking works on the principle of constantly applying force to rotate the plug and trying to lift each key pin to the proper height one at a time to open the door. There are safeguards against this, such as specialized key pins that get stuck in the plug if lifted with a pick instead of a key. That being said, there is probably no such thing as an unpickable lock. So, whether you’re locking in or locking out this semester, take time to appreciate what you hold dear.
