10 Everyday things you never knew even had a purpose

1. Think the hole in the lid keeps the ballpoint from drying out?

A lot of people think the hole in the cap of a ballpoint pen is there to keep the pen from drying out, or that it’s there to keep a pressure balance that prevents the pen from leaking. The real reason it’s there is much more straightforward:

It’s there to lower the risk of suffocation. If a small child was chewing on the cap and choked on it, the hole keeps their airway from closing up entirely.

2. Ever notice the little hole at the end of a tape measure? Ever wonder what it’s for?

It’s there to hook onto nails or screws so you can measure safely without the tape measure slipping.

3. And what about the little serrated edge?

Pretty obvious now that you see it, isn’t it? Imagine trying to mark where your measurement is, but not being able to because your hands are currently both busy using a tape measure. A little serrated edge would come in handy right then, wouldn’t it?

4. That hole in the handle of your pot is useful for more than one reason.

Sure, the main reason that hole is there is for hanging up your pot, but next time you need to set down a messy cooking spoon you’ll know exactly where to look.

5. And the hole on your pasta spoon?

This one is going to blow your mind. The hole’s primary purpose to strain the pasta and let the water drain out, but on many spoons, the hole is just about the size of one person’s portion of spaghetti.

6. What’s that arrow next to your gas gauge there for?

Maybe you’ve never even noticed it before, but that little arrow is secretly the most convenient feature on any car. It indicates which side of the car the gas cap is on. Believe me, it comes in handy when you’re driving a rental car.

7. What about this thick bit found on many cables?

Those little cylinder-shaped lumps are ferrite cores or chokes, and they’re essentially just chunks of magnetic iron oxide that are there to suppress high-frequency electromagnetic interference.

Have you ever heard weird interference when your cellphone goes off too close to a speaker? Well, ferrite cores are there to keep that from happening to your monitors, power supplies, and everything else.

8. What about the hole found in rulers?

Easy. It’s for hanging them up.

10. Have you been eating Tic Tacs wrong this whole time?

Maybe you’ve noticed the little indentation on the lid of a package of Tic Tacs before and figured it was there to tightly seal the container, right? Well, it also serves as a dispenser that gives you one Tic Tac at a time.

Read the full story here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/maximilianzender/did-u-kno?utm_term=.lwXrPeKR73#.md7oKr16pZ