People, trucks and even military tanks have tried and failed the task of pulling apart two phone books lying face up with their pages interleaved, like a shuffled deck of cards. While physicists have long known that this must be due to enormous frictional forces, exactly how these forces are generated has been an enigma – until now.
A team of physicists from France and Canada has discovered that it is the layout of the books coupled with the act of pulling that is producing the force.
The Power of Approximation
Finding an approximate solution to a complex problem is an essential skill in science (and in life). Often we are faced with questions that we can’t answer exactly, but sometimes good enough is, well, good enough. Enrico Fermi, one of the greatest physicists in the 20th century, has given his name to such “Fermi Questions“ – as he was famous for encouraging this skill in his students.
