For a number of years, videos showing an intriguing experiment, which has now received a satisfactory physical explanation, have been circulating the internet. In the video, a plastic bottle with a ...

Technological limitations have made studying friction on the atomic scale difficult, but researchers have now made advances in that quest on two fronts. By speeding up a real atomic force microscope ...

The friction between a silicon ball and silicon wafer was measured in the experimental set-up shown on the left. The new research demonstrates that there is a direct relation between two effects: the ...

I learned to respect friction, as a phenomenon with many nuances, when I was a graduate student. One day, while teaching a problem session in elementary mechanics, I unwisely invented a new problem to ...

Is friction dominated by electrons or by lattice vibrations? A nano-contact experiment shows that on a niobium (Nb) surface friction drops by a factor of three when crossing the superconductivity ...

Smooth wooden surface, such as a table or floor (If you do not have a wooden surface, you can use any other type of smooth countertop or table.) Rough carpeted surface (If you do not have access to ...