May 1 (Thursday) Jacob Israelachvili (UC Santa Barbara)
ADHESION AND FRICTION FORCES IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Abstract:
If there were no adhesion, we would fall apart; if there were no friction we would not move forward when we walked and no sound would come from a violin. We take these forces for granted, and make use of them instinctively, without thinking – they are part of our biological makeup. The talk will attempt to give a readily understandable but scientific background to the origin, history, and present day understanding of why things stick (adhere) to each other, why they sometimes fall apart, and the role of friction and lubrication forces in all this. Examples will be given from various non-biological and biological systems such as geckos and mussels which function both on land and in water.