All Questions
Tagged with material-science everyday-life
78
questions
2
votes
1
answer
65
views
Does a rubber mat reduce the impact to the floor below?
My lack of physics knowledge is preventing me from solving an everyday life problem. Please bear with me!
Say I have a second-floor apartment and I want to do deadlifts. I am afraid of the floor ...
- 121
1
vote
3
answers
717
views
Does glass slowly (invisibly) degrade until it breaks?
(This question is about non-tempered glass.)
I broke my favorite glass (tumbler) today, dropping it in my (ceramic) sink while trying to refill it. :(
I'm kind of a klutz - that's far from the first ...
- 121
-1
votes
1
answer
136
views
How do pencil erasers erase on a fundamental level?
One could say we're taking advantage of friction, but I want to dig deeper down to atomic level: what's the process or chain that happens when one erases?
Edit: subatomic -> atomic
- 9
41
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Why does bunched up aluminum foil become so extremely hard to compress?
I noticed that whenever I bunch up aluminum foil (into a ball), it becomes extremely hard to compress.
If I use another piece of the same amount of aluminum foil, and keep folding it in, I arrive at ...
- 29k
5
votes
1
answer
73
views
Why does string-like structures form on an eraser?
When you rub an eraser, string like structures form on it. How does this happen?
- 12.5k
43
votes
10
answers
5k
views
When a cork is pulled out of a wine bottle, why does the inner end often expand more than the outer end?
When I pull a cork out of a wine bottle, it usually expands slightly in circumference. This makes sense: you want the cork to be slightly compressed relative to its natural diameter when it's inside ...
- 48.4k
1
vote
2
answers
557
views
Why do things have colour? (reflect certain wavelengths of light)
Why does something like an apple, which has many different types of atoms and molecules in different arrangements put together in a complex manner, reflect only certain wavelengths of light, instead ...
- 480
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What causes this frost pattern on my windshield?
I was walking back to my car yesterday when I noticed the frost on the back windshield formed these long "straight" lines:
The temperature was about -10C and I was wondering what the ...
- 91
2
votes
0
answers
119
views
Why does Latex stick to itself?
I was launching a HAB and noticed powder on the balloon. I looked it up and found it was magnesium silicate (I thought it was hydrophobic to keep the balloon from getting wet and getting weighed down ...
- 2,650
15
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Why do little chips break off so easily from strong neodymium magnets?
I have some strong toy neodymium magnets. Typically after a while little chips start breaking off, unlike from most other small metal objects, like in this image.
It could of course be that neodymium ...
- 9,304
1
vote
1
answer
201
views
What causes this pattern in wood knots [closed]
I am see these interesting looking lobes emanating out of knots of wood:
The shape almost looks like magnetic field lines. It's probably just coincidence but I wonder if there is a similar PDE that ...
- 246
1
vote
2
answers
321
views
Is burned aluminium moka-pot safe to use? [closed]
The other day, we forgot a Moka Pot on the stove (maybe for 15 or 20 mins) and it got "burned" as in the pics attached.
The Moka pot is made of aluminium, and my modest physics and chemistry ...
- 497
25
votes
5
answers
6k
views
How would physics explain why I can't un-fold paper? [duplicate]
This seems like a silly question, but I would love to see a serious answer.
It's known that almost all fundamental laws of physics are time-reversible, and time-asymmetry only comes about when we ...
- 8,640
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
What is the physics behind the screen protectors? [closed]
Screen protectors are supposed to protect your device from nicks and scratches, and the stress of impacts which might otherwise lead to cracks. The basic idea being that screen-protector glass "...
- 799
7
votes
1
answer
817
views
Why do ribbons curl when we stroke them with scissors?
I have recently learnt how to make quilling swirls [also called paper filigree] ,one of the methods to curl the paper strips is to quickly run your fingernail on the underside of the strip you want to ...
