The Accidental Invention That Changed the World

In the video today, we're looking at the fascinating origins of Teflon and its just as fascinating properties, as well as how they get it to stick to pans, and why a gecko's feet won't stick to it.

[@jmmahony]

I think you missed part of the explanation for the stickiness of gecko feet via Van der Walls forces. Van der Walls forces are extremely distance-dependent: proportional to 1/r^7, compared to 1/r^2 for electrical or gravitational forces, so it pays to be able to get extremely close to a surface. Not only do gecko feet have a huge number of setae on their feet, the tiny size of each seta (that's the singular of "setae") allows the individual seta to get "closer" to the surface. Any surface has some roughness, so if you put a macroscopic sized object against that surface, it only makes "contact" at a limited number of points (and that number would be three if both the object and the surface were perfectly stiff, but in practice it depends on how flexible the surface and object are. And I put the word "contact" (and "closer") in quotation marks because the concept of "contact" gets a bit fuzzy at the quantum scale). The tiny size of each seta and the fact that each is on a separate stalk on the end of a hair means that each can adjust position and squeeze in between the high points of the (rough) surface, so each can get extremely close to wherever it lands on the surface. If the seta was larger than the scale of the surface roughness, then each seta would only make contact at a few "high points" of the surface, and the rest of that seta's surface would not be close enough to the surface for Van der Walls forces to contribute much to the stickiness.

[@ugh212]

Teflon was made at the Washington Works Dupont plant in two reactors. I grew up 2 miles from the plant and it is in Washington, WV not Parkersburg.

[@roberteltze4850]

Teflon is also unusual in that it's coefficient of static friction is the same as its coefficient of kinetic friction. It seems to me that this should contribute to it's nonstick property since an object on Teflon doesn't have a preference for staying stationary like it does on any other surface.

[@princesskittehh]

spray on shoes?

[@narrator69]

Dude, something in your link is making language filters block sharing. Great video though.

[@EyesOfByes]

Is the audio distorted or is it just airpods pro and/or my ears?

[@Gunny672]

Thank you Danny!

[@chrisva4268]

Another great video! It's a shame that such incredible scientific advancements also have come at such a big cost to humanity and the planet. PTFE is a magic material, and it's a shame that its lasting impact on the world might be its enabling of nuclear weapons and tons of microplastics, not to mention the short term concerns. I think it's an indispensable material, but its production and use must be more tightly regulated.

[@joshuagibson2520]

793 views? What the fuck. Im shocked.

[@TheTeflonTranny]

Ah Teflon..❤