Technology can make copies — Technology, 4–6
Some machines make another version of a drawing, photograph, page or object. A copy can be useful, but it may not carry every detail of the original.
Another one like it
A copying machine uses an original to make another version with a similar shape, picture or words. A printer copies a page onto paper; a mould helps make objects with the same form. The new thing is a copy, not the first one.
Why make copies?
One original may be in only one place, or it may be too precious or fragile to use often. People invented copying methods so several people could read, see or use a similar version. The problem was sharing or repeating something without making the original again each time.
Copying a picture
Leo draws one red star on a sheet. 1. He puts the sheet into a copier. 2. The copier reads the lines and colour. 3. It places similar marks on a second sheet. 4. Leo now has two red stars on two sheets. The copier made a second picture; it did not move the first one.
A copy is not always exact
It is natural to think that a copy must be exactly the same, because its job is to look like the original. But a printer may miss a colour, a photocopy may be lighter and a mould may leave a small mark. Similar does not always mean identical.
Copies in daily life
Libraries print extra pages, shops use moulds for repeated objects, and families print photographs to give away. Copies let more than one person have a version of something. When the original is special, people may keep it safe while using copies.
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