Will Gauge Blocks Stick In Vacuum? 

Hey Cody machinist here. I work with both ceramic and steel gauge blocks almost daily. They both wring together (S-C/S-S/C-C) although they do wring when the surface is perfectly clean, I found its much easier if you clean them and then put a light fingerprint on one of the surfaces before wringing. if you push pretty hard while doing that, they will hold together with extreme force. If you have any questions about them feel free to ask.

Cody + AvE, pretty skookum

Your AvE links aren't chooching

I wonder if you could make vacuum chamber gloves for doing more complex vacuum chamber experiments? Could be a bit dodgy, but it would open up a lot of possibilities for vacuum chamber experiments.

Wringing is not the van der Waals force / london dispersion force. Between two flat planes with 10nm separation in a vacuum, the van der Waals-induced pressure is around .05 atmosphere. This is two or three orders of magnitude too low. Its an additional order of magnitude lower under atmosphere. The longest atomic bond of any kind is less than .4 nm, and those bonds tend to drop off by the 4th power or greater. Even if tiny peaks of the blocks are touching, it won't be enough to create an attraction. Gecko feet are a weaker attraction than gauge blocks and we know Gecko feet uses the van der Waals force. The separation would have to be below 1 nm across a large amount of the blocks to make a bond, and the roughness of gauge blocks only have tiny spots of contact. (Additionally, the force is repulsive before its attractive.) I have no clue, but the Casimir force works at the scale of block roughness. Doesn’t explain why the attraction is not hugely stronger for metals, though.

Im glad AvE sent them to you, I love his vids, I watch them all the time he knows his stuff, and the way he relates that knowledge verbally is absolutely hilarious. Seems I learn a new word( or non word) in every video. His *custom* vocabulary is what makes the videos so entertaining. Dont think collaboration would be the right word but good to know you two know/interact with each other.

Will you ever go back to your precious metal refining series? I miss it

Cody you noticed the first problem with your experiment (the tape causing tilt), but not the second: you are dropping the block from a high level which is causing a reflected shock wave (unnoticeable) enough to break the week van der waals bonds. i don't understand why you thought you needed to smash them together to create the VdW bonds, its a proximity type of bond. collision causes bounce! try dropping it from a distance of half a mm which is enough to take care of surface imperfections.

Two of the absolute best RU-vidrs ever. AvE and Cody's Lab are consistently great.

What I was told when I was training to be an engineer, was when the gauge blocks touch, the surface is so smooth and level that the molecules cold weld together, but if they are left together for too long they actually weld to each other and in some cases need replacing

"Of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped."

It's funny watching AvE handle these like they'd explode if he breathed on them, then there's you dropping them on each other.

If the force is electron sharing, why don't you try touching them together lightly and then running a current through them? If they stick, that would be pretty convincing to me. Try AC and DC to see if you get different results.

I remember this from physics: the friction force decrease when smoothness increase to a certain extent, then it start to increase again reaching it's peak at super smooth surfaces...How? The theory says: at super smooth surfaces some of the atoms of the 2 parts get close enough to each other to form chemical bonds, not on all of the surface of course, coz otherwise The parts will be welded together...

From what i remember, one of the big factor for this phenomenon is the van der waals force. Since both surfaces are so finely ground, this force becomes non negligable

I couldn't help to notice you handle acid and 2000+ degree metals bare handed but when you play with awg blocks and suction cups you protect your hands.

+Cody'sLAB I believe the friction is heating the metal slightly making the grain structure expand slightly allowing better intertwining. once intertwined the Vanderwall forces take over...

Cody was sent to Hogwarts when he was younger but he was kicked out because he debunked all the magic with science. 100% true fact confirmed

"Too long as is" ? I would be perfectly happy with an 8 hour Cody video.

You really want to see something stick like that try two pieces of polished clean glass.

Lol. Cody, i have no use for this info, but i still watch it. Idk why. Keep it up.

Would wringing work under a liquid? Like, if you submerge the gauge blocks in distilled water, will they still wring together?

Get that vacuum pump choochin

Watching this on a large TV, I mistook the orientation of the chamber. When the first suction cup fell toward the bottom of the screen, I became slightly disoriented for a very short period of time.

I seem to remember from materials study way back when that what makes metal malleable is the shared electrons on the atomic level. It allows metals to be formed without coming apart, and makes metals behave...well...like metals. Is there a chance the blocks are so close they start sharing electrons as though they were one piece?

I noticed this before but with hard drive platters. I noticed it needed friction for that to work, adding things like water and so on didn't change anything. I hadn't thought I'd watch a video about it a few months later after I was fiddling about with a busted hard drive.

You should take a look at the surface under a scanning electron microscope. Any micro scratches which would cause friction would be quite obvious if you do that.

I always pronounced it A.V.E. Now you've got me thinking.

Cody, test to see if the electrical resistance changes depending on whether they are wrung together or just touching!

The precision of the surface means that enough electrons are in alignment to create 2 electron beds. It's the act of sliding the 2 together that bonds them by a static like charge. I would bet they actually accumulate a magnetism that remains until you break them apart again. Just an idea.

YES YES YES! And Thanks For Telling Us To Watch AvE. I Really Like Him and His Channel.

*Cody, try this:* What kind of effect does *electricity and/or magnetism* have on gauge blocks? Static electricity can hold things stuck, and steel is ferromagnetic, so it can have some effect. And then my hypothysis: if you rub a normal magnet over a piece of steel, it get's magnetised, that is: the steel gets rearranged so that the fieldlines of all particles point in the same direction... getting something to point in the same direction should be easy if the surface is perfectly flat, right? Then, the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the electric field; when rubbing you are actually moving electrons along the surface, the same way you rub electrons of a PVC pipe with a microfibre rag. So you essentially generate a magnetic field going through that surface. So perhaps you can get them stuck or unstuck with electricity or magnetism, or getting it to get stuck better. Get it chuching with manly-man skills!

Awesome! I still want to see how long a hot object stays hot in a vacuum compared to the same object at atmosphere.

Dude, I've seen a few of your videos this year. I particularly love this one. I saw a video a while back covering this, he explained what's happening really well. wish I could remember who it was. I think he was a machinist and it might have been when is was finding about about lapping. Keep up the awesome videos dude

this strange ecosystem of complex relationships between youtubers that I all somehow know (and love) already that I keep stumbling further into amazes me

the link to AVE's channel, sadly, doesn't work.

I think they stick together because of Van der Waal's force

its fairly well known today That its electron sharing That makes them stick. same as klingfilm

Your test is imperfect, it is because of vacuum, I've tested something similar with optical flats which exhibit the same property when a liquid is placed in between them.

As almost "perfectly flat" as they are, friction may be causing something other than a "locking" of atoms. That much surface making contact and sliding could also be doing some exchange of charge and creating a localized magnetic force perhaps. See if some magnetic viewing film can identify any fields they might be creating?

could oxygen be forming an oxide layer on the metal and the twisting motion you speak of breaks the layer along two pieces of "clean" metal touch and cold weld but only a very little of it can weld so it's a weak weld?

I would have liked to see the wrung suction test post cleaning with acetone. The oils on the blocks may have kept them stuck.

Hey Cody, could you do a video about metallic hydrogen.

I was under the impression, based on the explanation given by AvE, that the viscosity of the air was greater than the space between which makes me wonder how they would behave under water. Interesting, thought provoking video. Thumbs up.

Cool to see the exchange of expertise between RU-vidrs! Very interesting. Keep your stick on the ice (feel free to use whatever)

I've used Johansson blocks for metrology and tool room practice for the last 15 years or so. I don't know what causes the wringing effect that allows them to stick together, but I doubt it is getting the metal surfaces close enough together to share electrons or interlock atoms. Both would cause "cold welding" where the two blocks would fuse. Unless by infinitesimal chance the blocks broke apart exactly where they fused, this would result in material deposited on one block and pitting on the surface of another. But this doesn't happen. Also, if you have an old set of blocks with a less than factory fresh surface finish, the ability for them to wring together can be restored or enhanced with a light coat of a light oil such as WD-40. This would provide a layer preventing the metal atoms from joining, and is strong evidence to counter any occurrence of electron sharing or atom bonding. Finally, Johansson blocks are useful for much more than making sure your calipers haven't packed it in. Besides being able to calibrate almost any inside or outside measuring device to a known length standard, they can be used to setup parts in machines, inspect parts, simulate, mating parts, and find angles. By using a flat piece of steel with two v-shaped grooves a known distance apart, two metal pins of the same diameter, a stack of blocks, and trigonometry, the steel can be set to any angle desired.

Cody. what is stopping you from creating a vacuum chamber with a side that has holes for plastic gloves. use acrylic. you can put your hands inside during an experiment and manipulate things inside the vacuum. will thick plastic gloves hold up or be stretched until they rip in a vacuum.

It would be interesting to see this rug together under the sheets that show the magnetic force to see if the action of pushing the two together creates a magnetic force between the two surfaces due to friction. The heat of friction creating a negative and positive eddie current. Just like the earth spinning the core and the mantel.

I tried using two pieces of pretty flat glass. It is interesting because they do stick along the axis of their normals but they are free to slide in the other two axises. In the case of the glass it does feel like it would have to do with vacuum. To test this in a chamber I think you need guides to prevent the lifted glass sheet not to slide in case it is not perfectly aligned with gravity. Unfortunately my own vacuum chamber broke before I even completed it so can't test it for the moment ^^ Keep up the good work Cody!

That laser is like your ultimate multitool with that vacuum chamber. You do some many thing with it that I wouldn't even think would be possible without it in such a tiny enclosed space.

Can you pressurise the vacuum chamber?

Maybe those dislocated elektrons start moving through both pieces. And therfore making it behave like on solid piece. You could check this by heating one side while them standing on top of each other and while being held together. If the second part heats up faster while being linked one could say, that the energy rich electrons traveld through the gap

Watching this for the 2nd time. I remember watching the thought emporium with vacuum metal coating.. they heated titanium wire to help produce a much higher vacuum. Basically the titanium reacts quickly with any remaining gases, thereby creating higher vacuum. Could that work?

We did the same in middle school with hexagon shaped plastic pens. We've put them in a circle with one in the middle which was sticking out at the bottom and hit it on the table. When releasing sometimes a few were stuck together. The video immediately reminded me of this even tho I've never done and thought about it in 8 years. Probably the same kind of physic working there.

You’re like watching the smart stoners in the physics labs I volunteer in. Pure gold. Great ingenuity, but zero prior research before you jump into experimentation. Love it. Stay away from chemicals.

what happen to your hand, u didn't put it in the vacuum chamber did u lol

are those the chineseium guage blocks?

Maybe you are removing an oxide layer with the rubbing motion and then the metal just cold welds

Love that two of my favorite channels work together!

Very interesting! I followed AvE’s channel and found this video. Cody, try this: One hypothesis says that this might be and electron charge holding the blocks together. Get a ZeroStat gun, and imply a charge on one of the blocks to see if the charge has any effect on the blocks. Wring the blocks, then try to charge one end of the blocks to see what happens.

His name is not Ave, it is the three letters by themselves A-V-E(Aye-Vee-Ee)

12:34 Cody explains where babies come from

These nearly perfect surfaces are interlacing or entangled the the electron clouds of their companion block's surface.

Perhaps it's the surface tension of oils or other material that gets stuck between the blocks. I know Cody cleaned them with acetone, but it could be that it's very difficult to get everything out. So if one imagines a microscopic round droplet on one of the edges, the droplet gets squeezed by the wringing motion and its surface becomes a very thin "ring" around the edges of the contacting surfaces. Hence pulling them apart would mean momentarily creating an oil surface the size of the block edge and therefore there's a resisting force. Just dropping them on top of each other does not produce enough force in which case the tiny droplet remains in a droplet form between the blocks and supports their weight. I guess this could be tested by carefully putting the blocks on top of each other so they don't stick, and then gradually putting more and more weight on the top one. Or by sticking the blocks together and heating/cooling them, as surface tension of many materials changes with temperature.

Cody your mini-ecosystem is looking pretty cool!

isn't this making a metallic bond which would create delocalized electrons and which creating a sea of electrons thin wouldn the two bullocks kind of being fused together without actually being fused just on the molecular level where the nucleus attracted to each other and the Sea of electrons are holding them together

could be static electricity. rubbing the blocks against each other could be creating a voltage across the two and though the blocks themselves are not magnetic, electricity makes its own magnetic field and could be holding the blocks together.

what happened to your fingers?

Cody's persistence is legendary

hey Cody, i was just at work and saw 2 round coin shaped pieces of glass that were drilled from fishtanks. i am able to wring them together. i cleaned them to be sure it was not grease or something and they still wring together. pretty cool

don't they stick because of the way the metallic bonds work? When there's no tarnish or air in between two pieces of metal of identical elemental composition, when they touch they will weld together.

The surface is so smooth, that the material does not know where it ends, if you don't show em by removing them from each other

Cool how some of the top youtubers recognized and support one another.

It'd be great to get more Cody and AvE colabs!

he's using the force

We need to make you some of those nuclear reactor style control pincers that go through the vacuum glass.

was anyone else cringing that he was fiddling with gauge blocks on a filthy concrete floor? also did not clean off protective goo.

I'm fascinated by this, great video Cody, thanks for sharing

I don't know where I encountered this, but as a kid a trick was to take two fragments of mirror and dampen slightly and do the press & slide action, glass side together. They would stick strongly. It only worked reliably with mirror and not regular glass, suggesting maybe that was a flatter surface. My hypothesis would be the air pressure one, just operating at a different scale. If you surrounded a suction cup with, say, a layer of thick gel, making it harder for the air to get back in, but not adding much to the adhesion, I suspect you'd get the same effect.

is there an effective way to produce carbon monoxide without releasing too much carbon dioxide

Vote this up people! You should take a harddrive and remove the disk and some of the read/write heads. These absolutely stick to the surface of the disc if pressed down a little, and they stay. This would be easily tested with the same principle that you use in this video since even if the weight would bounce the head would stick on the first hit and not bounce from the disk surface, or you could put some little softer material but stout material over the head, say hard rubber, to make a little longer press on it sort of speak. Althought get a 3.5" harrdrive and a little older since these have aluminium discs where the 2.5" have discs made of glass.

Mini friction welding, small 'hairs' of metal interlocking, plus static? (Think your hair and a charged balloon)

Maybe those blocks' faces are not quite 90 degrees to each other, in which case the glass surface will prevent the two contact surfaces being exactly parallel. I suggest somehow lowering the top block onto the bottom one without touching anything else, thus allowing it to settle flat against the other block under gravity alone.

My gut thought is that it could be an imperfect cold weld. If you look it up in an article, NASA had an issue with cold welding involving a door on a spacecraft when an astronaut was coming inside the craft after a spacewalk (IIRC). The door hinges were entirely metal and they welded shut as the crew was trying to close the hatch. The reasoning hypothesized was that in the absence of oxygen, when the metal surfaces were abraded against one another, the existing oxide layer on the metals which came from earth (which would prevent a weld), was removed so the resulting weld occurred between real metal-on-metal contact rather than metal-oxide-on-metal-oxide contact. This may explain why they only stick when you "wring" them together, you're abrading some of the oxide layer off, however, since we're in an oxygen-rich environment, the weld is imperfect and can be overcome. That's my two cents...no one ever accused me of being a genius. Keep up the great work and give my fond regards to Utah (Go Utes)!

I'm having a bad day Found my bird dead😭

Take it from the aerodynamicist, it ain't air, brother. She ain't flexible enough to seal

Try to make them stick face to face rather than edge to edge

The use of the laser was brilliant!

It would also be interesting to look at the face of a gage block with a micro scope, to see if there were any changes in the grain structure before and after, as well as to see how the faces are ground..

Don't the block stick together on the same principal a Gecko can walk on walls?

You need a scanning electron microscope :(

The way you hadle these makes me angry

hey cody! watched the cold welding series, and from the beginnind i thought, you should find youre self a "scrapped" piece of metal, even the most expencive gages wont be flat, thell have around .15 to .05mm deviation as from scrapped steel that has from0.001 to 0.0001 mm deviation, you can test it if you put two of flat objects one on top of the other theyll float on a thin layer of air until you stop them, and they actually stick to each other. have a great one!!

I am a lover of science and cannot believe I am just discovering the wonder of "gage wringing." Intuition makes me wonder if the friction electrically charges the atoms of the gage blocks and creates a temporary bond. Hence, no matter where you apply the pressure, they will adhere no matter how offset the blocks are. This is fascinating!

Could we test the breaking force to see if it might be the Casimir Effect? The math seems a little oversimplified here, given its rooted in quantum theory, but it looks reputable. math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/casimir.html

You can't wring gage blocks by dropping them on each other. You need to "wring" them. Awesome channel!!

That's such a cool intro. May I suggest you do the same thing but make it look more professional. It deserves more for such a cool idea

wow Cody.... nearly 1 million subs. i started watching you when you had less the 100k! So proud to see that!! Ypu are great!!!

I worked part time for a couple years certifying gauge blocks for companies and the process of wringing them together always fascinated me. IMHO and with little scientific background on it, I think the blocks are so close together, they start to share a few electrons and thus the pull towards each other.

Nice to see your biosphere is still doing ok. Roughly one month and still looking decent though it looks like some have died off or have been eaten. They're getting bigger for sure.