Video: Phone book physics
Myth-buster fans have likely heard of the phenomenon of interlocking pages of two phonebooks and discovering that they are impossible to pull apart.
General Physics
Jan 15, 2016
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News tagged with friction
Researchers explain why it's nearly impossible to separate two interleaved phonebooks
(Phys.org)—Many people are familiar with the friction enigma of two interleaved phonebooks, in which all of the pages of two phonebooks are overlapped, one by one, with the books' spines facing outward. Trying to separate ...
New theory describes ice's slippery behavior
Winter is coming, promising the usual bouts of frozen precipitation for northern locations. The slickness of snow and ice is a big pain if you're driving, flying or walking, but can be a lot of fun if you strap on a pair ...
Condensed Matter
Dec 8, 2015
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Japan's slippery earthquake means we might need to rethink our Pacific risk
Earthquakes happen every day. Many are so small they aren't felt, but large magnitude earthquakes can be deadly if they cause strong ground shaking or tsunamis and affect populated areas, such as the quake that hit Nepal ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 29, 2015
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Megathrust quake faults weaker and less stressed than thought
Some of the inner workings of Earth's subduction zones and their "megathrust" faults are revealed in a paper published today in the journal Science. U.S. Geological Survey scientist Jeanne Hardebeck calculated the frictional ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 10, 2015
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Slipping and sliding to major tennis success
Engineers at the University of Sheffield are working with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on a device that can measure the effects of friction on tennis courts.
Engineering
Sep 8, 2015
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Solved: the mystery of why it's impossible to pull apart interleaved phone books
People, trucks and even military tanks have tried and failed the task of pulling apart two phone books lying face up with their pages interleaved, like a shuffled deck of cards. While physicists have long known that this ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2015
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Snake scales protect steel against friction
A snake moves without legs by the scales on its belly gripping the ground. It generates friction at the points needed to move forwards only and prevents its scales from being worn off by too much friction. Researchers of ...
General Physics
Aug 17, 2015
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Snake skin inspired surfaces smash records, providing 40 percent friction reduction
Snake skin inspired surfaces smash records, providing an astonishing 40% friction reduction in tests of high performance materials.
General Physics
Jun 30, 2015
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Research redefines the properties of faults when rock melts
Geoscientists at the University of Liverpool have used friction experiments to investigate the processes of fault slip.
Earth Sciences
Jun 30, 2015
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