64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak,(A) praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea(B) people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.(C)

Cams are pretty hard to spot in real life, as they are often hidden inside machines such as engines, printing machines, sewing machines, or toys.

The follower falls and remains still when the bottom end of the pear cam makes contact with it. This makes an up and down movement with short pauses.

Cam mechanisms convert circular motion, turning around and around, into linear motion, which might be side to side, or up and down in a straight line.

The cam is attached to a shaft, like this, and we can now use a crank handle to turn the shaft and cam round and round: the circular motion.

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit[b];(X) and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Snail cams can be used to make an action happen at a regular time. For example, they can be used to make a clock sound a bell every hour.

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76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet(Q) of the Most High;(R)    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,(S)77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation    through the forgiveness of their sins,(T)78 because of the tender mercy of our God,    by which the rising sun(U) will come to us from heaven79 to shine on those living in darkness    and in the shadow of death,(V)to guide our feet into the path of peace.”(W)

The shape of the cam is what affects the motion of the follower, and cams come in all shapes and sizes. Round, oval, triangle, and even snail-shaped.

A cam is a simple mechanism that converts rotary motion (movement that goes round in a circle) into linear motion (movement in a straight line).

This movement could be forwards and backwards, up and down or side to side - as long as the movement is repeated and in a straight line.

68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,(F)    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.(G)69 He has raised up a horn[a](H) of salvation for us    in the house of his servant David(I)70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),(J)71 salvation from our enemies    and from the hand of all who hate us—72 to show mercy to our ancestors(K)    and to remember his holy covenant,(L)73     the oath he swore to our father Abraham:(M)74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,    and to enable us to serve him(N) without fear(O)75     in holiness and righteousness(P) before him all our days.

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As it turns, the follower keeps still until it meets the top of the spiral. This pushes it up, before it drops down the flat edge of the snail shape.

This is a triangle cam mechanism. As the cam turns, the triangular shape of the cam means the follower drops after each point of the triangle.