Image(s) of the day: GIFs that show how speakers, handguns, engines, and flat panel displays work

Even if you’re well-versed in the most high-brow of engineering niches, you have to appreciate the collection of GIF animation files that Jacob O’Neal put together, all of which fully visualize the genius designs behind some of today’s most common machines and technologies.

Below are a sample series of annotated animations (Animagraffs) that O’Neal put together which show the inner works of popular mechanics, including loud speakers, handguns, car engines, jet engines, and flat panel displays.

“Subject material for Animagraffs has to be able to loop indefinitely (since that's all animated GIFs can do), and should require animation to tell the story, as opposed to adding animation as a gimmick,” O’Neal explains. 

So, without further ado:

Speakers and magnets : Understanding that one’s ears are able to sense sound by sensing movements in air, and that in order for speakers to make sound by moving air, magnets are key.

How a magnet in a loudspeaker works:

How the cone and suspension work in relation to the movement:

How it all works together:

How a handgun works : This Animagraff shows a model 1911 handgun and the parts needed in order to dispense its bullets.

How a car engine works : Three files here, with the first one showing the inside of a single cylinder . . . 

Followed by a four-cylinder setup that shows how an engine with more than one cylinder works . . . 

And just because we cater mostly to electrical engineers, here’s how a hybrid engine works:

Jet engine : Ever wonder how a jet engine is able to move more than a ton of air in a split second? O’Neal’s Animagraff visualizes its inner workings:

How a flat panel display works :

To see more of O’Neal’s work, visit his website at animagraffs.com