03/31/2026
Quantum physics tells us that we never literally "touch" anything in our entire lives—whether it's the phone in your hand, a patch of grass, or the hand of a loved one! 🤌
Everything in the universe is made of atoms, and our bodies are no exception. At the center of every atom is a nucleus, surrounded by an orbiting cloud of electrons. These electrons carry a negative (-) charge.
A basic rule of science is that like charges always repel each other (just like how two identical poles of a magnet push each other away).
When you go to grab something, the outermost electrons of the atoms in your fingers get extremely close to the electrons of that object. But they never actually make contact! As soon as they get close, their negative charges repel each other with tremendous force. 🧲
The push or energy from this electron repulsion travels as a signal through our nerves to our brain. Our brain then processes that signal, which gives us the physical sensation of "touch."
This means that when you sit in a chair, you aren't literally touching it. Instead, thanks to this electron repulsion, you are actually hovering just above the chair at a microscopic (nanometer) level!
To the naked eye, it looks like we're touching everything, but down in the atomic world, we actually spend our whole lives keeping a strict distance from everything else! ✨
