Hooked on Science: Inseparable books

Materials

• 2 Books

Instructions

STEP 1: Overlap the pages of each book.

STEP 2: Have one person grasp the spine of one of the books, while another person grasps the spine of the other book.

STEP 3: Attempt to separate the books by pulling.

Explanation

No matter how hard you pull, the books will not separate. Friction is the resistance between two objects. By overlapping the pages of each book, you create a lot of friction between the pages, which makes it very difficult to separate the books.

Jason Lindsey is a science outreach educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments.