How does a car cigarette lighter work?

I know you push it in then when it's hot it pops out but how does it know when to pop out and what triggers the "popping out"?

Answers:
Cigar lighters work on a principle of mechanical thermostatic action (that's scientific notation for "popping out when it's hot"). The handle has a spring that is compressed when pushed in. Pushing the handle in also causes tabs in the top half of the "barrel" of the lighter to "lock" into slots in the bottom half of the barrel and pushes the heating element against the "hot" electrical contact point in the base of the lighter receptacle. The element heats up -> the bottom half of the barrel heats up -> the slot openings expand -> the top of the barrel is released -> the spring pushes the top up quickly -> the top pulls the bottom away from the contact. Pop! Pull it out quick before it cools off!
maybe it gets connected to the battery? i don't really know but since you can do it even when the car is turned off, it can't have anything to do with the engine.
the battery is the only thing i can think of that would get it hot?
dunno.
like electric heater
Mine doesn,t
It's machined for a precision fit so when the grip gets hot, it expands just enough to release the lighter. It's spring loaded so it pops out. That's the common type anyway.

Most toasters are heat-release-based too. Lot's a folks think there's a timer in their toaster, but.no.
The part that gets hot is coiled up. I'm guessing that as it heats up it expands causing it to unlatch from the plug, and pop out.

Just my guess though.
When you pop it in, a current runs through it. The thing consists of a coil that retains heat. The socket can also be used to power devices like CD players - it's all just electricity.
the lighter has a little round coil that gets hot when electricity is applied to it, when the heat gets to a certain level it expands and pushes on a tiny little ball bearing in the lighter housing, and if has a spring so it pops out.
A capacitor lets it know when it is hot enough, it works off DC voltage, straight off the battery, unlike most of the other electrical parts of your car, that works off the alternater, which is close to AC in a home.
there is a heating coil attached from the battery of a car to the outer side of the dashboard and thats what makes the heat and then theres a little type of thermomiter thing on the side that goes up to a certain point and then it stops at that point and it triggers a metal peice inside of the lighter to scoot back so it will pop out.

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