science

Philishave

Philishave is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Philishave rather than just read about it. In short: Philishave was a brand name for electric shavers manufactured by Dutch electronics conglomerate Philips, under its Personal Health division. In recent years, Philips had extended the Philishave brand to include hair clippers, beard trimmers and beard shapers.

Key takeaways

Philishave belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Philishave to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Philishave from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philishave was a brand name for electric shavers manufactured by Dutch electronics conglomerate Philips, under its Personal Health division. In recent years, Philips had extended the Philishave brand to include hair clippers, beard trimmers and beard shapers. Philips used the Philishave brand name for their shavers from 1939 to 2006, before phasing it out in favour of the Philips brand. In the United States, Philips shavers were sold under the Norelco brand, before being co-branded as Philips-Norelco. Philips currently has two production centres for shavers: Drachten, in the Netherlands, and Zhuhai, in China.

History The Philishave shaver was invented by Philips engineer Alexandre Horowitz, who used rotating cutters instead of the reciprocating cutters that had been used in previous electric shavers. The shaver was introduced in 1939, though initial production was limited due to the outbreak of World War II (the production facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, was overrun by the German Army in 1940). After the war, a slightly improved version of the cigar-shaped single-head shaver was introduced. A more ergonomic egg-shaped single-head model was introduced in 1948 and was designed by US industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Global sales increased markedly after a double-head model was introduced in 1951. In 1952, production of shavers shifted from Eindhoven to a new production facility in Drachten, the Netherlands. A triple-head model was test marketed in Australia and New Zealand in 1956, but would not be introduced globally until 1966. In 1980, Philips introduced the Lift & Cut Philishave shaver, invented by Eduard W. Tietjens, with lifters which pull whiskers slightly before cutting, allowing for closer shaves. The brand name Philishave was phased out in 2006 so shavers now bear only the Philips name. Philips is now co-branding their shavers sold in the US as "Philips Norelco" in preparation of a phase-out of the Norelco name. Philips have celebrated their 80th anniversary in the electric shaver business by marketing special 'Heritage Edition' shaver models reviving the Philishave brand.

Models and parts According to instructions supplied with the units, the shaving heads need cleaning every 2 months and replacing every 18 months. However, not all Philips spare parts will fit well on all Philips shavers. Heads are given an "HQ" number, such as HQ2, HQ3, HQ4, HQ5, etc., and this number should normally correspond with the first digit of the model number of the shaver. An exception is the 6000 series which takes HQ8 heads. Although the heads do look much the same, attempts to fit the wrong HQ number may fail; for example, an HQ5 head will not correctly engage with the spindle on a shaver model designed for an HQ3 or HQ4 head, due to a small extra piece of plastic in the centre of the HQ5 drive socket. Care should therefore be taken when choosing replacement parts.

Illustrations

"Heritage" Philishave model S3552 celebrating 80th anniversary of Philishave brand

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philishave

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philishave claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Philishave before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Philishave ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Philishave

In research: Philishave appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Philishave in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Philishave is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dutch inventions, Philips products, Products introduced in 1939, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philishave outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Philishave in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Philishave means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Philishave out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Philishave in simple terms?

Why does Philishave matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Philishave?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Philishave.