A sticky issue
From New Orleans, at a meeting of the American Physical Society
Old decals die hard. Try removing one from a wall by pulling its side, and usually only a small wedge will come off. The same tends to happen with pieces of adhesive tape. Unless the glue is weak or the tape is strong and doesn’t break, the removal takes patience.
“Why is it so frustrating?” says Benoît Roman of the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. Now Roman and his collaborators have found the answer.