Researchers have demonstrated how to entirely suppress static friction between two surfaces. This means that even a minuscule force suffices to set objects in motion. Especially in micromechanical ...

Using high-speed photography and digital image correlation techniques, engineers show that friction along a faultline has a complex evolution during an earthquake that is dictated, in part, by slip ...

Now I get to do something with that force scale I built. I had a request some time ago to talk about friction. Friction is surprisingly complicated. When two surfaces rub against each other, why is ...

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 ...

Say we consider a simple experiment of balancing a wooden rod on two fingers. The finger on the left, (1), will remain stationary, whereas the finger on the right, (2), will be moved toward the left.

It may seem like fun and games, but understanding how dominoes topple isn’t child’s play. “It’s a problem that is so natural; everybody plays with dominoes,” says David Cantor, a researcher at ...