If you were to interleave the pages of two books, would you be able to pull the two books part easily?

What you will need:

Two books of the same size and shape, having at least a hundred pages each.

What you do:

  • Interleave the pages of the two books like you would a deck of cards. Try to do this as evenly as you can.
  • Ensure that the books overlap to about the middle of their pages.
  • Now, holding each book by its spine, try to pull them apart.

What do you find?

It’s not easy to pull the books apart.

Why does this happen?

Because of friction! Friction is the force that opposes the motion of two surfaces that are in contact. This force exists between all surfaces in contact with each other, but it may not always be evident. The amount of friction between two single sheets of paper is so small that it is hardly noticeable. But when the sheets of paper are replaced by books, each containing a number of pages, like in the above experiment, the amount of friction is multiplied. If the quantity of friction generated is very large, it may be virtually impossible to separate the books.

 

Picture Credit : Google

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