THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MINES AND MINERAL SCIENCES

METALLURGY DEPARTMENT
EM 290 - 8.0 DRY FRICTION

KINDLY NOTE THAT THIS IS JUST KINDLY NOTE THAT THE NEXT SET OF
A GUIDE, USE ENGINEERING TOPICS WILL BE ON DYNAMICS, USE
MECHANICS BOOK ON STATICS ENGINEERING MECHANICS BOOK ON
BY HIBBELER – 12TH EDITION DYNAMICS BY HIBBELER – 12TH EDITION
 8.1 Introduction
Friction is a force that opposes motion between any surfaces that are touching. Friction can also be
defined as a force that resists the movement of two contacting surfaces that slide relative to one another.
This force always tangent to the surface at the points of contact and is directed so as to oppose the
possible or existing motion between the surfaces. Friction can work for or against us. For example, putting
sand on an icy sidewalk increases friction so you are less likely to slip. Other examples of friction include;
Friction created between the graphite in a pencil and a sheet of paper that leaves a mark on the paper when writing or
drawing.
Friction created between a bicycle brake pad and the rim of a wheel causes the wheel to stop turning.
Did you ever rub your hands together to warm them up? why does this make your hands warmer? The
answer is friction. Hence, friction produces heat. But do you know why? Friction causes the molecules on
rubbing surfaces to move faster, so they have more energy. This gives them a higher temperature, and
they feel warmer. Heat from friction can be useful. It not only warms your hands. On the other hand, heat
from friction between moving parts inside a car engine can be a big problem. It can cause the car to
overheat. Hence, to reduce friction, oil is added to the engine. The oil coats the surfaces of the moving
parts and makes them slippery. They slide over each other more easily, so there is less friction. In some
cases, friction is desirable while in other cases, friction reduces the effectiveness of machines. Without
friction, you would not be able to walk, the wheels on a vehicle would have no grip on a road surfacing
and the vehicle would not be able to move forward. On the other hand, friction is undesirable in most of
the cases. Friction causes mechanical parts to seize and wear out.
Theory Of Dry Friction
Theory Of Dry Friction Cont’d
Theory Of Dry Friction Cont’d
Theory Of Dry Friction Cont’d
Fun with Friction:
Activity 1: Take two pieces of paper. Wad one of the pieces of paper into a ball. Leave the
other piece of paper like normal.
Hold the pieces of paper above your head. Drop the pieces at the same time. The wadded
piece will fall to the ground immediately. The flat piece of paper will flutter down more slowly
because it has more surface area to create friction or drag on the air as it drops.
Concept: Air friction
Activity 2:
To begin, fill the bottle with rice. Try sticking the chopstick down into the bottle. When you
grab the chopstick and pull up, what happens? The stick should just come right out.
How do you make the rice stick to the chopstick so you can just pick it up? You've got to
add more friction. Here's how.
Put the lid on the bottle and tap the bottom of the bottle on a hard surface. Do this a few
times to compact the rice and get rid of the air pockets. Now you should have room to add a
bit more rice to the bottle.
Once you've added a bit more rice, stick the chopstick back into the bottle. This time, when
you pull up on the chopstick, you should be able to pick up the whole bottle.
Concept: Friction applied by rice on the chopstick.
Quiz Time
1. Define friction, and explain why it occurs.
2. Identify three factors that affect friction.
3. Why does friction warm your hands when you rub them together?
4. Outside wooden steps may get slippery when they are wet. How could you
make them less slippery?
8.2 Problems Involving Friction
Problems Involving Friction Cont’d

DO EXAMPLES 8.1, 8.3, 8.5

DO PROBLEMS 8.3, 8.20 & 8.43
8.3 Wedges

DO EXAMPLE 8.6
DO PROBLEMS 8.66 & 8.67
8.5 Frictional Forces on Flat Belts
Frictional Forces on Flat Belts Cont’d

SOLVE EXAMPLE 8.8

SOLVE PROBLEMS 8.96 & 8.99
 Exercise Questions
1. Fill in the blanks.
(a) Friction opposes the _____________ between the surfaces in contact with each other.
(b) Friction depends on the _____________ of surfaces.
(c) Friction produces __________.
(d) Sprinkling of powder on the carom board ________ friction.
(e) Sliding friction is ___________ than the static friction.
Soln:
(a) Friction opposes the motion between the surfaces in contact with each other.
(b) Friction depends on the nature of surfaces.
(c) Friction produces heat.
(d) Sprinkling of powder on the carom board reduces friction.
(e) Sliding friction is lesser than the static friction.
 Exercise Questions Cont’d
2. Four children were asked to arrange forces due to rolling, static and sliding frictions in a decreasing order.
Their arrangements are given below. Choose the correct arrangement.
(a) rolling, static, sliding
(b) rolling, sliding, static
(c) static, sliding, rolling
(d) sliding, static, rolling
Soln:
Answer is (c) static, sliding, rolling
3. Alida runs her toy car on dry marble floor, wet marble floor, newspaper and towel spread on the floor. The
force of friction acting on the car on different surfaces in increasing order will be?
(a) wet marble floor, dry marble floor, newspaper and towel.
(b) newspaper, towel, dry marble floor, wet marble floor.
(c) towel, newspaper, dry marble floor, wet marble floor.
(d) wet marble floor, dry marble floor, towel, newspaper
Soln:
Answer is (a) wet marble floor, dry marble floor, newspaper and towel.
 Exercise Questions Cont’d
4. Suppose your writing desk is tilted a little. A book kept on it starts sliding down. Show the direction of
frictional force acting on it.
Soln:
When book slides down on the desk, a frictional force acts between the book and the surface of the desk.
The direction of the friction force on the book is opposite to the direction of its motion and acts in an upward
direction.
5. You spill a bucket of soapy water on a marble floor accidently. Would it make it easier or more difficult for
you to walk on the floor? Why?
Soln:
It is possible to walk on the floor because of the friction present between our feet and the ground. For
walking, we push the ground in a backward direction with our feet. The force of friction pushes it in the
forward direction and allows us to walk. The force of friction decreases between the ground and the feet
when there is soapy water spilt on the floor. Hence, it becomes difficult to walk on the soapy floor.
6. Explain why sportsmen use shoes with spikes.
Soln:
Sportsmen use shoes with spikes because of the better grip given by spikes while running. This is because
the force of friction between the shoes and the ground increases with the help of spikes.
 Exercise Questions Cont’d
7. Leo has to push a lighter box and Seema has to push a similar heavier box on the same
floor. Who will have to apply a larger force and why?
Soln:
Due to the interlocking of the irregularities on the two surfaces in contact, the force of friction
arises. On the floor when a heavy object is placed, the interlocking of irregularities on the
surface of the box and floor become strong. This is because the two surfaces in contact are
pressed harder. Hence, more force is required to overcome the interlocking. Thus, to push
the heavier box, Seema has to apply greater force than Leo.
8. Explain why sliding friction is less than static friction
Soln:
When irregularities present in the surfaces of two objects in contact get interlocked with each
other, friction come into play. The time given in sliding for interlocking is very small. Thus,
interlocking is not strong. Therefore, less force is required to overcome this interlocking. Due
to this reason, sliding friction is less than static friction.
 Exercise Questions Cont’d
9. Give examples to show that friction is both a friend and a foe.
Soln:
Advantages of the friction
a) Due to friction, we are able to walk.
b) We are able to write because of the friction between the tip of the pen and paper.
Disadvantages of friction
a) Because of friction, the tires and soles of shoes wear out.
b) Friction produces heat between different parts of the machines. This can damage the machines.
10. Explain why objects moving in fluids must have special shapes.
Soln:
When a body moves through a fluid, it experiences an opposing force which tries to oppose its
motion through the fluid. This opposing force is known as the drag force. This frictional force
depends on the shape of the body. By giving the objects a special shape, the force of friction acting
on it can be minimized. Hence, it becomes easier for a body to move through the fluid.