What Determines the Solidity and Texture of Objects?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter welshtyke
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 2K views
welshtyke
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Please can anyone explain to me why things appear solid and the texture of things. Given that everything consists of atoms which are 99.999+% of empty space.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Electrostatic forces keep things from actually "touching" each other. Solid/liquid and the various textures of things are a result of the molecular structure of objects. Metals, for example, have a crystalline structure that is very rigid at room temperatures whereas water molecules slide freely around each other.