Mathematics, Technology and Design
Explore the technological marvel behind the Enigma -a cipher device used to encode and decode secret messages during WWII. Discover how its rotors, plugboard, and reflector turned simple text into unbreakable codes, making it a game changer in cryptography.
Exploded View
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The Wheel of Mechanics
The Enigma machines are a series of electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines.
Click on the images to know more
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Mathematics
Each rotor can be placed in 26 positions (A-Z). With 3 rotors selected from 5, the total number of configurations is:
5 × 4 × 3 = 60 unique rotor orders.
Rotor Configurations
Each of the 3 rotors has 26 starting positions giving us:
*26 × 26 × 26 = 17,576 possibilities per configuration of the Enigma rotors.
Total Possibilities
A maximum of 10 pairs can be swapped on the plugboard, leading to roughly:
150 trillion possible plugboard configurations!
Plugboard Settings
3D Enigma Visualizer
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Encryption Process
When a key is pressed, the electrical signal passes through the plug board, travels through multiple rotors, hits the reflector, and returns back.
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This process changes with each keypress as the rotors rotate, resulting in a highly secure encryption.
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Here's a GIF to understand the encrypted path
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Path of Letter
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Entry Rotor (ETW):
Signal enters the machine from the key press and reaches the first rotor. -
Rotors & Reflector:
Signal passes through multiple rotors (each scrambling it further), hits the reflector, and returns back through the same rotors in reverse. -
Lampboard (Final Output):
The final encrypted letter lights up on the display as the result.
Quiz Time
Let's now find out how much do you know about these cipher device