Question

Let´s say I hold a pen in my hand. I can feel the material the pen is made of on my skin.
But is there really something touching or in contact? I mean are the electrons of my skin and the electrons of the pen in contact (electrons of the atoms that make up the surface) or are cores close together (because the shell is kind of empty) or are there just (electric) fields that are repelling each other and forbid that there is any contact at all or is it some quantum-physics thing?

Answer 1

when in contact with something,normal force come into play..and normal force is due to electrostatic repulsion..so i guess there is no contact...i dont think electrons can be in contact ,due to repulsion ,quantum mechanical pauli's exclusion and principle uncertainity principle..

Answer 2

get a metallic pen and attach it to a circuit
then touch ...

Answer 3

i think the feeling of something is merely the interpretation by brain of the characteristic electric field of a material at very close to its surface..

Answer 4

@shayanreloaded:you got a point...but still the thing is what is the meaning of touching..if it similar as bonding as in crystals,then i'ud say they are very close with not even air molecules in between but still not bonded like closeness..

Answer 5

Feynman explains it (either her or in another video in the series), if you have the time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhh32JYkQPk&feature=BFa&list=PL2D30B1DEFFDA0310&lf=plpp_video

'Contact' is just a macroscopic-world simplification- few things really touch (although bosons like being together (probabilistically), but I don't know if that's the same thing). Nuclear fusion probably comes closest to our classical intuitions of 'touching', but even then they don't touch.

Answer 6

:) I saw the full interview a while ago.
Thx everyone.