A World Without Friction
A World Without Friction (603 Words)Although friction may seem like a minor issue, its absence would chance life as we know it. There would be many negative effects of this like not being able to gain traction on any surface and your ipods earplugs always falling out. Also, there would be many positive effects, such as eliminating the need for coolant in engines and lubricant in machines. Moreover, the absence of friction would be both bad and good.
Without friction, many obvious things which we take for granted would not function the way we like. Shoelaces would untie themselves, zippers would always unzip (unless they were upside-down), nails, screws, nuts and bolts would work themselves loose, and driving as we know it would be impossible. Objects would be unable to gain traction on any surface. Therefore, the only way to move without friction would be through force of reaction. One would need to push something to get motion in opposite direction. Then even to stop, one would need to collide with something. In short, one would need some mechanism like rockets have to control motion. A larger problem would be that the threat of meteorites would be multiplied immensely (Goulding). Since there would be no resistance as the meteorite entered Earths atmosphere, even small meteorites would be able to penetrate our atmosphere and cause immense damage (Goulding). The damage a large meteor would cause would be catastrophic.
Several ramifications that probably dont come readily to mind are the effects on the human body, thermodynamics and plate tectonics. Without friction, many functions of the human body would not work. Procreation would be impossible as friction is necessary for the male orgasm. Digestion would be impossible as the human body uses friction to digest and move food throughout the body. Under conditions where the coefficient of friction is 0 on all surfaces, the laws of Thermodynamics would be useless (Goulding). Since friction creates heat, without
Without friction, many obvious things which we take for granted would not function the way we like. Shoelaces would untie themselves, zippers would always unzip (unless they were upside-down), nails, screws, nuts and bolts would work themselves loose, and driving as we know it would be impossible. Objects would be unable to gain traction on any surface. Therefore, the only way to move without friction would be through force of reaction. One would need to push something to get motion in opposite direction. Then even to stop, one would need to collide with something. In short, one would need some mechanism like rockets have to control motion. A larger problem would be that the threat of meteorites would be multiplied immensely (Goulding). Since there would be no resistance as the meteorite entered Earths atmosphere, even small meteorites would be able to penetrate our atmosphere and cause immense damage (Goulding). The damage a large meteor would cause would be catastrophic.
Several ramifications that probably dont come readily to mind are the effects on the human body, thermodynamics and plate tectonics. Without friction, many functions of the human body would not work. Procreation would be impossible as friction is necessary for the male orgasm. Digestion would be impossible as the human body uses friction to digest and move food throughout the body. Under conditions where the coefficient of friction is 0 on all surfaces, the laws of Thermodynamics would be useless (Goulding). Since friction creates heat, without
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