Why Does the Toaster Care?

Factual Questions
1

I have a standard two-slice toaster, but when I want to make one slice of toast it has a nice little diagram telling which slot to put it in. Why does the toaster care which side I put my single slice of bread?

2

One side has the thermostat.

3

That expalins a little, but what does the thermostat do exactly in the toaster and how does the bread in that side effect what it does?

4

See here. :smiley:

5

The thermostat measures the surface temperature of the bread. If the bread is in the wrong side, then the thermostat reaches the target temperature much faster and pops the slice up too soon.