We've all heard it before when troubleshooting a router: unplug your router, wait ten seconds, and plug it back in. More often than not, this fixes whatever problem we have. But why is that? Superuser user Phoshi has an explanation.
It turns out it's all about capacitors. Phoshi explains:
A lot of modern technology contains capacitors! These are like energy buckets, little batteries that fill up when you put a current through them, and discharge otherwise. 10 seconds is the time it takes most capacitors to discharge enough for the electronics they're powering to stop working. That's why when you turn your PC off at the wall, things like an LED on your motherboard take a few seconds to disappear. You probably could wait a different time, but 10 seconds is the shortest time you can be sure everything's discharged.
So, it's all about capacitors. There's no magic trick involved where you have to wait exactly 10 seconds for the gremlins to disperse. Need a primer on exactly how capacitors work? Make has you covered.