Barcodes

A barcode is a set of black and white lines printed on products. Stores scan barcodes to find out the price of an item. Every product in a store has its own barcode. Barcodes make shopping faster for everyone.

How Barcodes Work

Each barcode has a unique pattern of thick and thin lines. A scanner shines a light on the barcode to read it. The pattern tells the computer which product it is. The computer then looks up the price. The whole process takes less than a second.

Barcodes Are Everywhere

You can find barcodes on almost everything you buy. Books, toys, food, and clothes all have barcodes. Libraries use barcodes to track borrowed books. Hospitals use barcodes on medicines to keep patients safe. Barcodes help keep track of millions of items around the world.

Fun Facts

• The first product ever scanned with a barcode was a pack of chewing gum in 1974.
• There are over a billion unique barcode numbers in use today.
• The idea for barcodes came from Morse code, the dot-and-dash system.

Did You Know?

The barcode was invented in 1952, but it took over 20 years before stores started using it. The technology to scan them quickly had to be invented first!