Inseparable phone books, science fact or science friction?
The Question
Think of two sheets of paper laid atop of one another, how much force is required to
separate these two sheets by sliding them apart? In other words, how much force is
required to overcome the friction between these two sheets of paper? Very little, you’d
think? The question is what happens when you multiply this situation several times
over in the form of two interwoven phone books?
The Setup
With all the pages correctly woven the
phone books are now fused and ready
for testing. To test, apply a force to each
spine-end by pulling the two books into
tension, this is more easily done with two
people, one each end. You will soon
realise your force is no match for the
phone books’ strength. So how much
force is necessary to separate these two
phone books?