How does friction work on an atomic(or subatomic) level?
i'm trying to understand quantum mechanics("trying"), and i can't come up with a reason of how friction works : |
use your own words or pm me links to sites that discuss how it works if typing it out is too much, but no plagiarism or links in the answers/comments : d

It doesnt - friction is a macrosopic effect n is a combination of a number of atomic level interactions as explained in the classical model. Search for subatomic friction and u will find a nice discussion done on the AskScience sub on Re__it.

That covers the classical model only n quantum mechanics will be throwing a big monkey wrench in it. but the ans is still u cant explain friction at that level

Viewing things at the atomic level, it is electrical force between each atom's outermost electrons that keep an object in one piece; because the atoms of the object share electrons. When two objects come together, the repulsive electrical forces between their outermost atoms keep the objects apart. This means that each object's outermost atoms get pushed in towards the layer inside them, moving those atoms too. These movements spread through the object: and when atoms in an object make small movements without actually swapping places with each other, we call that heat. The ordered motion energy of the two objects "disappears" - because it just got turned into disordered motion energy of their internal atoms. Both at the atomic level and on larger scales, the electric field summed up from all the outermost electrons is bumpy, not smooth (even highly polished surfaces are not atomically smooth, perhaps some monocrystalline structures are). So when you press two objects together and slide them across each other, they're continually riding up across each other's bumps and sliding into each other's dips. For every bump, mechanical energy is lost and turned into internal heat energy. So the force you apply to get the bumps to ride up isn't completely paid for by the slide downhill on the other side. You feel this as a frictional force opposing the movement you're trying to make. It's always exactly proportional to the force pressing the objects together, but it's also affected by how fast you push. That's what makes the difference between static friction and moving friction. Like when you're trying to push a car along a bumpy track. Even if it's in neutral, you lose energy each time it rolls into the next pothole.

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