Why Can't We Never Actually Touch Anything?

At a first glance, it may seem like we are able to touch things all the time, whether it be the steering wheel of a car, a doorknob, or a friend's shoulder. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that we can never actually touch anything. This may sound counterintuitive, but it is a fundamental principle of physics that has been confirmed by numerous experiments.

So why can't we touch anything? The answer lies in the nature of matter itself. At the most basic level, matter is made up of atoms, which are composed of even smaller particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons. These particles are held together by electromagnetic forces, and they are constantly in motion.

If we look at the size of atoms relative to everyday objects, we can see that they are incredibly small. In fact, the atoms that make up our bodies are so small that if an atom were the size of a basketball, a sugar molecule would be the size of the Earth. This means that when we "touch" something, what is really happening is that the atoms in our fingers are interacting with the atoms in the object we are touching.

However, the atoms in our fingers and the atoms in the object we are touching are not actually touching each other. This is because there is always a small gap between the atoms, which is known as the van der Waals gap. The van der Waals gap is the result of the electromagnetic forces that hold atoms together, and it means that there is always some distance between atoms, no matter how close they may seem.

In conclusion, while it may seem like we are able to touch things all the time, the reality is that we can never actually touch anything. This is because the atoms that make up matter are always separated by a small gap, which means that there is always some distance between the atoms in our fingers and the atoms in the objects we touch. Despite this, the interactions between atoms are still what allow us to experience the sensation of touch, and they are an essential part of the way that the world works.