When two physical surfaces make contact, we say

they are 'touching' each other. This contact may

make it appear that two different surfaces are
actually touching, but in fact, no atoms of any
one object can ever touch the atoms of another!

The cool dude on the left is leaning on a wall,

which his jacket is 'touching'. At least, it seems
that way. But when you look very closely at the
two surfaces 'in contact', and understand a little
about what atoms are like, you discover that no
jacket atoms are touching any wall atoms at all!

Here's a simplified explanation of why this is so:

An atom could be described as a positively
charged nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of
negatively charged electrons. The nuclear forces
between these two types of objects is so strong
that no earthly conditions can cause the electrons
to merge with the nucleus, even though they are
opposite in charge. There is always space
between them.

When two atoms are forced into 'contact' (here,

the jacket touching the wall), a similar type of
force, electromagnetism, keeps negatively
charged electrons from actually making contact
with each other.
to merge with the nucleus, even though they are
opposite in charge. There is always space
between them.

When two atoms are forced into 'contact' (here,

the jacket touching the wall), a similar type of
force, electromagnetism, keeps negatively
charged electrons from actually making contact
with each other.

Push as hard as you want; you cannot make two

electrons come into contact. And the electrons
never touch the nucleus. So the only thing
actually 'in contact' is the electromagnetic force
between the electrons, and there is always space
between them!
It's as if you are pushing with similar poles of two
very strong bar magnets; you can push one
around with the other, but can never force them
together.

Even standing on the floor, you are really

supported by a very thin layer of electromagnetic
force; no atoms of your foot actually touch atoms
of the floor!
force; no atoms of your foot actually touch atoms
of the floor!

But wait a minute ... what about when you cut

something!?!!

Don't the scissor blades have to touch what

they're cutting, in order to cut?
No, they don't. Atoms can't touch, remember?
They just push against each other with an
electromagnetic force. That's what happens with
the scissors:

Even the sharpest knife doesn't 'cut' ... it pushes

apart the atoms of the material it's being used
on. The atoms of the knife or scissors blade push
electromagnetically against the atoms of
cardboard (see the diagram above), spreading
them apart. Even when the blade is withdrawn,
and the material rejoins (as with flesh cut by a
scalpel), the sealing is because of the positive
Even the sharpest knife doesn't 'cut' ... it pushes
apart the atoms of the material it's being used
on. The atoms of the knife or scissors blade push
electromagnetically against the atoms of
cardboard (see the diagram above), spreading
them apart. Even when the blade is withdrawn,
and the material rejoins (as with flesh cut by a
scalpel), the sealing is because of the positive
and negative attraction between atoms and
molecules with net charges (chemistry!) ... but
this is not strong enough to force electrons
together, just as it wasn't in the original uncut
material.

O.K., what about sticky stuff?

When something sticky attaches
itself to a surface, aren't the atoms
touching?
No again! Stickiness is caused by a
net electric charge on the
molecules involved (positive
attracted to negative). Minnie's
lipstick actually sticks to Mickey's
face because of electromagnetic
charges! But this force, once again,
is not strong enough to push the
electrons on the outer edges of the
atoms into contact; the force of
repulsion is too strong. In a
chemical bond, atoms may actually
share electrons ... but nothing
touches anything else! It's all done
with forces.
How about when you eat
something and the atoms of
sandwich end up in your stomach
and bloodstream? Same story!
The sandwich atoms are forced
apart by the force from your teeth
atoms, pulled apart by the
chemical (electromagnetic)
attraction of your saliva and
stomach acid, mixed together
(still never touching), and sent to
the rest of your body ... pushed
along by the electromagnetic
 The sandwich atoms are forced
apart by the force from your teeth
atoms, pulled apart by the
chemical (electromagnetic)
attraction of your saliva and
stomach acid, mixed together
(still never touching), and sent to
the rest of your body ... pushed
along by the electromagnetic
forces of the atoms in your blood.
You may be wondering how
you can feel things, if you
don't actually make contact
with anything. For example,
when you pick something up
in your fingers, you can
certainly 'feel' the contact!
What's happening?
The cave man on the right
certainly felt the club when it
made contact with his head!
Let's examine what actually
took place when that
happened.
Atoms of the club pushed against atoms of his
head, and probably moved them around a lot
(electromagnetically)! Buried in the skin are
nerve cells, which have extra electrons they can
release when acted on by a force from outside.
These electrons flow along the nerves, atom to
atom, eventually reaching the brain, where other
cells interpret this electrical signal as 'pain'. At
no time did any atoms or electrons actually
touch each other; the only 'contact' was the
electromagnetic force ( positive and negative)
between particles!
Friction is just the effect of
atoms pushing against each
other. On a smooth surface,
with few bumps, there is
little friction. Most of the
atoms can slide right by
each other without actually
pushing against each other.
But no surface is totally free of
friction. If you examine any
 atoms pushing against each
other. On a smooth surface,
with few bumps, there is
little friction. Most of the
atoms can slide right by
each other without actually
pushing against each other.
But no surface is totally free of
friction. If you examine any
surface under a powerful
enough microscope, no matter
how smooth it appears to the
naked eye, there will be
bumps. This will cause atoms
to come face-to-face. If the
forces between one set of
atoms (snow, in this case), are
weak, those atoms get pushed
out of the way. But this uses
up energy. It's called 'friction'.
If the atoms are joined by
strong forces, as in rock, then
they can't easily be pushed
away. The forces between
these atoms and your ski
atoms, supposing that you
were skiing on rock, might be
enough to bring you to a stop!
In either case, it's atoms
pushing against each other, at
a distance,
(electromagnetically), that
causes friction.

Convinced? O.K., next time you kiss someone,

just remember that at no time did your lips
actually meet! It was just an illusion. Isn't
physics wonderful?!?
FOOTNOTE:
If you know a little more about particle physics,
you might have realized that it is possible to
force an electron to make contact with the
protons in a nucleus. This is accomplished
artificially by colliding them at relativistic speeds
in a cyclotron; the force of the collision is able to
overcome the nuclear force.
One of the things that can happen when the
electron hits a proton is that they can combine to
create a neutron. This process also occurs in a
neutron star, where the intense gravitational
pressure collapses all the atoms of the star, so
that all the electrons combine with all the nuclear
protons, forming a solid soup of neutrons.
You might expect that in this case, we could say
that there really is contact made between
different atoms. However, our current state of
understanding leads physicists to believe that
electrons and protons themselves are made from
combinations of even smaller elementary
particles called quarks, which are held apart by
their own forces. So even on the sub-nuclear
scale, there is no 'touching'. What is inside a
quark is the subject of current research in the
field ... a subject for a possible future page here
on our site!

THANK YOU
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touch.html