Sometimes you think you have a complete understanding of something and then BOOM—a simple problem throws everything out the window. Let's consider a very basic physics problem involving pushing a ...

In today's episode, Shini tells us about Static and Kinetic friction. Why is it hard to move a heavy bookcase across a carpeted floor? And why is it easier to keep it moving than it was to get it ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In earthquakes, the principle shows how one part of a fault slipping can unleash movement across miles of crust. (CREDIT: ...

Is friction real? Once, with the quiet certainty of someone who just stayed up all night in the company of equations describing concrete, my college roommate told me that friction was made up. Now, ...

Friction at the atomic scale appears to depend on the speed at which two surfaces move past each other. This surprising behaviour was observed as the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) moves ...

Here’s the rub with friction — scientists don’t really know how it works. Although humans have been harnessing its power since rubbing two sticks together to build the first fire, the physics of ...

At a busy street crossing, people wait for the signal to change. When one person steps out first, others soon follow. Scientists in Amsterdam have found that this same kind of behavior happens at a ...