They take care of our machines: Irons, phones, and toasters,
MP3s and TV screens, Even rollercoasters.
Without them clocks stop ticking, Without them lights go out!
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
Friction
Tom Thomas! That door of yours squeaks terribly!
Yeah, and it's not easy to open either.
Well, that's because the hinges are rubbing. That's why your door is not working right.
How can I fix it?
Just reduce the amount of friction.
- How? - With some oil on the hinges.
I can do it for you because I've got a pack-o-mat.
Alright.
Simka, can I help you?
Sure you can! Wear the pack-o-mat, all right?
Friction is the force that tries to stop something from sliding or rubbing smoothly against something else.
Rubbing can make things wear out quickly if there is a lot of friction.
If you want less friction, you need to put something on the parts that rub against each other. Like oil.
There are special kinds of grease used to keep clocks and wheels turning smoothly,
and for skis, a special kind of wax can be used to make them go even faster.
That's it! Now the top hinge.
It’s all done! Go ahead and check how it's working.
It's not squeaking!
I told you!
You guys are the best!
- I've got to go. - Go where?
I'm going to go sledding!
Maybe you'll take me with you?
Sorry, Nolik. You don't have a sled to ride on. I'll see you later!
Simka, should I grease the saucer?
What for? It will slide down the hill just the way it is.
OK then.
Wait here for me, Nolik.
I’ll be back real soon with a surprise for you.
Yeah! Oil is slippery! I know what I'll do!
Wow! Talk about no friction!
Hey! Any one?
Help, help! Simka!
Nolik? Are you alright?
Just stay where you are, I’ll be right there!
- Papus! - Papus, help us, please!
Who called for me? Help is on the way!
Hey, what are you up to?
- Grandpus, stay away from here! - You'll fall over!
What did you say?
Stay where you are!
What happened here?
I poured some oil on the table.
- Why did you do that? - To reduce... friction.
That's brilliant!
Nobody move!
I know exactly what to do!
And what was the problem you had with the friction?
I want to see all of this oil gone in five minutes.
Engineers are in a constant battle with the force of friction.
They want less friction so that cars will run faster,
and their parts will wear out less quickly.
But just imagine what the world would be like if all of a sudden there was simply no friction at all!
Everything would start slipping out of our hands and falling off the table.
Knots would untie themselves. And that's not the half of it!
Cars wouldn't be able to run without friction either.
Wheels would spin around and around in one place unable to grab onto the road.
We wouldn’t even be able to walk!
Because when we walk, we move forward by pushing off the ground with our feet.
And how can we do that without friction?
We can't!
So now I think you can see why it's not so bad to have a little bit of friction in our lives!
We cleaned it!
But it's still so stinky!
Nolik, I completely forgot!
I promised you a surprise.
Look!
What is it?
I made you your very own saucer for sledding.
That's great!
Only… what good is this thing without snow?
Nolik, hey! Look at what I've got for you!
Snow?
Yeah!
Is it real snow? Really?
Yep! Now you've got your very own hill to sled on!
This is great! What an awesome surprise!
And you don't need oil to make it go quickly!
Can you believe that Fixies are Such itty-bitty creatures?
Even when they’re magnified It’s hard to see their features.
They’re tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
The Short Circuit
Are you sure we allowed to play in your dad’s office?
We not going to play in here.
We came here on a tour.
I think this place is like a real museum.
Just take a look at that!
I have no idea what it is.
And this thing is a complete mystery.
Keep it down! This is a museum, you know?
What a great museum guide you are! You know absolutely nothing!
How can you say I don’t know? I know.
I'd like to run a test here. On a capacitor.
- On this one? -Don't touch!
Why can't I?
It's not a museum.
- Because it's dangerous! - If you touch it, the shock could be deadly!
But you two are touching it all the time. I've seen it!
The only time is when the device is turned off.
And right now the device is running.
For many centuries the Fixies only had to work on mechanical devices,
but after the discovery of electricity,
the Fixies had to master electrical devices as well.
At first, Fixies were getting terrible shocks.
And they really, really hurt!
Over time, the Fixies figured out that you can’t fix appliances when they are turned on.
And bare wires should never ever be touched.
And Fixies also learned that electricity can travel not just through wires, but through plain old water.
So that's why if a broken wire ever ends up in a puddle of water,
you must never get close to it.
Or you could get a terrible shock!
Fixies learn all these important rules,
and they hope humans understand that they need to learn them as well!
Look!
Now here's one I know about.
It's an old radio my dad got from my grandpa.
More than 60 years old - can you believe it?!
Your grandpa?
The old radio!
That was a joke!
Is it still working?
I don't know. Let's check.
What was that?
It looks like the electricity got turned off.
Maybe it was a short circuit.
I'll go find out!
So it was you who caused the short circuit!
I was in here showing all these things to Nolik.
And we wanted to turn on the radio.
We flipped the switch on and then suddenly Kaboom! The lights go off!
They're off everywhere in the apartment.
So then how can I even warm up my pizza now?
Soon it will warm up all by itself now that the refrigerator isn't working.
Simka, what is that thing you said? A short circuit?
Electricity goes back and forth from an appliance with two separate wires.
For example, an iron uses the electricity it needs to get hot.
But if those two wires start touching each other without the iron in the middle,
then the wires will get hot instead.
And this can cause the wires to burn out.
When this happens it's called a short circuit.
Short circuits can happen when the coating around a wire is worn out
or when an appliance is broken on the inside of it!
So when you tried turning on that old broken radio,
the wires in the apartment started burning.
Does that mean all of the wires got destroyed?!
Don't worry.
In our apartment there is an automatic switch to stop that.
It turns off the electricity when the wires start getting too hot.
And what about that... automatic switch?
Is that something you need your mom and dad to turn on?
No question! You definitely would, but you have us!
Yeah!
And we have Papus and Masiya.
I’ll go tell them what happened here. And you guys turn off the radio.
But we'll get electrocuted!
What do you mean electrocuted?
Thanks to you there is no electricity!
Are you ready?
Pull it up!
Hurrah!
Tideesh!
So, Tom Thomas, what are we doing next?
Why don't we continue with our tour?
Hey, wait for me! I’m coming!
Hey, wait!
I thought you were fixing the television with Papus and Masiya!
They asked me to come here and stay with you,
on your awesome museum tour.
That way there'll be less for them to fix in here later.