# friction on atomic scale

I am getting into friction on an atomic scale. For instance, take two rigid layers of atoms of the kind A that are placed on top of each other, just like putting two boards of wood on top of each other. Then place some atoms or molecules of the kind B between those two rigid layers, i.e. put some pebbles between the two wooden boards. Now start pushing one of the rigid layers horizontally, i.e. start pushing the wooden board on top.

On the macroscopic scale, we will be able to treat this system with Newtonian Mechanics and (relatively) simple approximations, i.e. friction forces.

How about the microscopic scale? When I google "friction microscopic scale", I get lots of results about ongoing research that is a bit above my level.

I plan to dive into this, bearing in mind to maybe go on and model such systems computationally.

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For example, if you remove your $B$ layer then when you bring your two layers of $A$ together they will simply bond just like two crystal planes do in a chunk of solid $A$. To find out what effect the layer of $B$ has you'll have to calculate the interatomic forces between the $A$ and $B$ layers.