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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

It’s a snap: the friction-based physics behind a common gesture

Experiments with various types of glove identify the factors behind a successful finger click.
A person snapping their fingers

Study of the ordinary finger click has shown that it is one of the fastest human motions, at only 7 milliseconds. Credit: Georgia Tech

A simple snap of the fingers boasts some complex physics. The arm loads up energy and then releases it explosively, so that the middle finger hits the palm with a sharp smack. A team has now shown how that process depends on the friction of human skin1.

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Nature 599, 534 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03444-z

References

  1. Acharya, R., Challita, E. J., Ilton, M. & Bhamla, M. S. J. R. Soc. Interface https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0672 (2021).

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