What makes a suction cup work




















Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How do suction cups work? Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 3 months ago. Active 5 years, 4 months ago. Viewed 23k times. When lifting an object with a suction cup or a rigid chamber with air pumped out : Given that the suction cup isn't physically affixed to the object, it can't apply any force to lift it.

What dictates how much weight can be lifted? Improve this question. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. It almost feels like creating space itself but it's just doing the same thing gas would do : pushing. Many administrative functions are being performed remotely, however, our associates will respond to email and telephone correspondence in a timely manner.

Imagine that everything and everybody on earth is completely surrounded by an ocean of air, which puts pressure on both the inside and outside of everything. When you press a suction cup against a wall or window, you push out the air inside it, eliminating the pressure inside the suction cup and creating a vacuum which seals the cup tightly to the surface you want it to stick to. A suction cup will come off when the air pressure on the outside becomes lower than the air pressure inside the suction cup.

In scientific terms, gravity and friction are the two main forces that make it possible for suction cups to work. Gravity pulls the molecules in the air toward earth, creating atmospheric pressure of roughly A good cup on a slick surface causes that pressure to be applied to the outside of the cup, pushing it down onto the surface. Friction keeps the cup from sliding.

For example, a suction cup of radius 2. Modern suction cups are made of highly flexible synthetic materials such as PVC plastic or neoprene.

Prized for their reliability, these materials are preferred to natural rubber because they are stronger and more resistant to sunlight, abrasion and temperature extremes. Earlier suction cups were made of natural rubber, and the very first suction cups were made of glass or gourds. These handy devices are designed to conform to the shape of the surface that they are stuck to, and will adhere best to surfaces that are smooth and non-porous, like metal or glass.

As far back as third century B. Suction cups made out of gourds, were attached to the skin and supposedly drew bad blood away from diseased organs to the surface of the body.

The first modern suction cup patents were issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the s. TC Roche was awarded U. Patent No. In Orwell Needham patented a more refined suction cup design, U. A new and improved developing stick with a suction pad of India rubber at one end which can raise a glass plate or other material and hold it in the proper position for applying developing solution.

With the advent of this invention, it was no longer necessary to handle the plate or soil the fingers with solution. If air can work under the edges of the suction cup, or through the surface, the "seal" will break and the suction cup will fall off. Steve Smith has published articles on a wide range of topics including cars, travel, lifestyle, business, golf, weddings and careers.

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