Sand with the Tape

If you have a tape dispenser for your desk, you may have wondered why it sounds like there's sand inside. Well, that's because there really is.

Tape dispensers, by design, are light because they are mostly plastic. Because they are so light, when you pull the tape with one hand, it would slide across the desk. One way of helping this is the bottom, which could be a foam padding or rubber. This helps to keep the dispenser from sliding. But it's still light, and it could still slide across the desk. That's where the sand comes in. Sand is used simply to weigh it down. With the added weight, the dispenser is unlikely to slide across the desk. Also, the tape dispenser now can double as a paperweight.

So, why not metal? Sand is 'dirt cheap' (forgive the pun). It's a lot cheaper to fill the dispenser with sand than to add metal for the same purpose. With anything that deals with engineering, the two things that are thought about are "how cheap can we make it" and "how durable can we make it". If they can achieve the same effect of metal with sand, and save money by doing it, they will use sand.

Bet you didn't know that!