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The Greatest Illusion in Physics: Why Matter Feels Solid
Although the world feels completely solid, atoms are almost entirely empty space.
This episode explores how Rutherford's gold foil experiment revealed that nearly all of an atom's mass is packed into a tiny nucleus, while the rest is vast emptiness. You'll discover why objects feel solid—not because they truly touch, but because electromagnetic forces and the Pauli Exclusion Principle prevent atoms from passing through one another. The result is a fascinating look at how quantum physics shapes the reality our brains experience every day.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
The skinny
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