The question is not how to eliminate friction. The question is how to manage it so it becomes traction and traction becomes ...

Explore how forces and friction work to hold a block against a vertical wall. This video explains normal force, frictional force, and equilibrium conditions, showing how these forces balance to ...

Of course, the study of friction is nothing new; and to explain the 20th-century crisis, and to understand where tribology may yet take us, we must first understand how we got here. So begins Vail’s ...

How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change ...

Learn how to solve a ladder friction problem and determine the minimum coefficient of friction. Step-by-step explanations make it easy to understand the physics behind ladder stability and forces in ...

MIT scientists have coaxed atoms into an exotic “edge state” for the first time, allowing them to flow completely friction-free. The breakthrough could lead to better superconductor materials. As ...

In "Friction," tribologist Jennifer Vail shows how the fundamental force that resists motion keeps driving us forward.