Spherical contact distribution function

Okay kiddo, imagine you have a ball in your hand. Now, you can touch the ball in different places with your fingers, right? These places where your fingers touch the ball is called the contact area.

Now, imagine another ball of the same size. If you touch this new ball with your fingers, you will again have different contact areas. The two balls may have some contact areas in common but mostly they will have different contact areas.

The spherical contact distribution function tells us how likely it is for two balls of the same size to have a certain number of contact areas in common when they touch. For example, it can tell us how likely it is for two balls to have exactly 3 contact areas in common, or how likely it is for them to have no contact areas in common at all.

Scientists use this mathematical function to better understand how particles interact with each other. They want to know how particles stick together or repel each other. By figuring out the spherical contact distribution function, they can better predict how these interactions will happen.

Does that make sense, little one?