What is friction?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

CrowdScience listener David was playing snooker in Thailand when he started thinking how such a smooth ball was dependent on the rough green baize of the table to bring it to a stop. Would it be possible to play snooker at all in a completely frictionless universe? Sometimes friction produces heat. Could we ever control it completely? We try to reduce friction in some cases by using lubricants, whilst at other times like braking at a traffic junction we depend upon friction entirely. Anand Jagatia heads to Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, to meet some true masters of this mysterious entity: players of the winter sport Curling. What exactly is friction, and does thinking about it tell us something deeper about the universe? Taking part:

Jennifer Dodds, Team GB Olympic Gold medallist Dave Lieth, Head of performance services, British Curling Susan Perkin, Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Oxford Roger Lewis, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield

Presented by Anand Jagatia Produced by Alex Mansfield

With thanks to David for his question.

[Image: curling. Credit: Getty Images]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:30.3	World Football in Qatar is the podcast taking you behind the scenes with all 32 teams at the World Cup.
0:38.0	We're hearing from the players, the fans and people in Qatar telling the truly global story of the competition.
0:46.6	That's World Football in Qatar from the BBC World Service.
0:50.8	Find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:54.0	I'm Anan Jagatia and this rumbling is the sound of 20 kilograms of polished granite as it slides
1:06.8	across an icy runway before smashing into other stones at the bottom. If you're not familiar, this is the Winter Olympic sport of curling, where very skilled players push and gently spin huge heavy
1:25.8	stones across the ice, towards a target at the other end.
1:29.8	It's a bit like darts crossed with 10-pin bowling except much colder and it's
1:34.8	feedishly difficult as you can hear.
1:38.8	So I'm stepping onto the ice.
1:47.0	Okay, it's not as slipper as I thought would be, so that's good.
1:49.0	That's it.
1:52.0	Is the stone going to make it over the line?
1:57.0	So I'm presuming that's a foul throw.
1:59.0	Yes.
	...

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