Experiment 102: Friction

Analysis

To stop a moving object, a force must act in the opposite direction to

the direction of motion. For instance, if you push your book across your

desk, the book will move. The force of the push moves the book. As the

book slides across the desk, it slows down and stops moving. The force that

opposes the motion of an object is called friction. Friction is basically

around us all the time and opposes relative motion between systems in

contact but also allows us to move. Friction can also be defined as the

resistance of one surface or object it encounters when moving over another.

It is not a fundamental force, like gravity or electromagnetism. Instead,

scientists believe it is the result of the electromagnetic attraction between

charged particles in two touching surfaces.

Different types of motion of the object gives rise to different types of

friction. Generally, there are 4 types of friction. They are static friction,

sliding friction, rolling friction, and fluid friction. Static friction exists

between a stationary object and the surface on which it is resting. It

prevents an object from moving against the surface. When we want to

move an object first we must overcome the static friction acting between

the object and the surface on which the object is resting. The other type is

the Sliding friction that occurs between objects as they slide against each

Figure
other. When sliding friction 1. Types
is acting of Friction
there must be another force existing to

keep the body moving. Next is the Rolling friction which is the resistive

force that slows down the motion of a rolling ball or wheel. It is also called

rolling resistance. When a force or torque is applied to a stationary wheel,

there is a small static rolling friction force holding back the rolling motion.

However, resistance from static sliding friction is what really causes the

wheel to start rolling. Rolling friction hinders the motion of an object

rolling on a surface, that means it slows down the motion of an object

rolling on a surface. Like sliding friction here also another force is required

to keep the object in motion, in case of pedaling bicycle the bicyclist

provides the force which is required for the bicycle to be in motion. And

lastly, the Fluid friction which is the friction that acts on objects that are

moving through a fluid. A fluid is a substance that can flow and take the

shape of its container. Fluids include liquids and gases. Furthermore, air

friction is experienced by the objects moving through the open air. air
friction acts between the object and the air through which it is moving. It is

also called drag. This force depends upon the object's shape, material,

speed with which it is moving and the viscosity of the fluid. Viscosity is the

measure of the resistance of the air to flow and it differs from one density

another. Figure 1 shows the different types of friction respectively of their

functions.

When surfaces in contact move relative to each other, the friction

between the two surfaces converts kinetic energy into heat. This property

can have dramatic consequences, as illustrated by the use of friction

created by rubbing pieces of wood together to start a fire. Kinetic energy is

converted to heat whenever motion with friction occurs, for example when

a viscous fluid is stirred. Another important consequence of many types of

friction can be wear, which may lead to performance degradation and/or

damage to components. Friction is a component of the science of tribology.

Friction is not itself a fundamental force but arises from fundamental

electromagnetic forces between the charged particles constituting the two

contacting surfaces. The complexity of these interactions makes the

calculation of friction from first principles impractical and necessitates the

use of empirical methods for analysis and the development of theory.

The work done by friction can translate into deformation, wear, and

heat that can affect the contact surface properties (even the coefficient of

friction between the surfaces). This can be beneficial as in polishing. The

work of friction is used to mix and join materials such as in the process of

friction welding. Excessive erosion or wear of mating sliding surfaces

occurs when work due frictional forces rise to unacceptable levels. Harder

corrosion particles caught between mating surfaces in relative motion

(fretting) exacerbates wear of frictional forces. Bearing seizure or failure

may result from excessive wear due to work of friction. As surfaces are

worn by work due to friction, fit and surface finish of an object may

degrade until it no longer functions properly.

Friction is an important factor in many engineering disciplines such

as transportation and measurement. For transportation, automobile brakes

inherently rely on friction, slowing a vehicle by converting its kinetic

energy into heat. Incidentally, dispersing this large amount of heat safely is

one technical challenge in designing brake systems. For measurement, a

tribometer is an instrument that measures friction on a surface and a

profilometer is a device used to measure pavement surface roughness.

Friction is also used to heat and ignite matchsticks.

Anybody that moves, in one way or another, experiences an

opposing force either from air or from another body in contact. This force

tends to retard the motion of the body. The presence of friction between

contact surfaces generates sound, light, and heat energy. It is also referred

to as the retarding force or even drag force in the form of air resistance.

Frictional force is found to be directly proportional to the normal

force (N) which is mathematically expressed as:

f∝N

f =kN (Equation 1)

The coefficient of friction (µ) takes the place of k which is the constant

of proportionality. Thus:

f =µN (Equation 2)

If the body slides down the incline due to its own weight, the angle

between the horizontal and the incline is called angle of repose 𝜽, as shown

in Figure 2.
 Figure 2. Angle of Repose

In the previous experiment, if we are measuring along the y-axis, the

formula will be

Σ F y =0 , f =Wcosθ

and if we are measuring along the x-axis, the formula will be

Σ F x =0 , f =Wsinθ.

The coefficient of friction is equal to the tangent of the angle of repose.

f Wsinθ
µ= = , µ=tanθ (Equation 3)
N Wcosθ

In this experiment, the main Static Friction can be measured by

computing for the Friction Coefficient. Friction coefficient is a measure of

force generated by moving surfaces of two identical fabrics in contact at

standard rate and pressure and surface roughness by force generated by

moving thin wire over a surface at a standard rate and pressure.

The coefficient of friction is a dimensionless scalar value. It is a ratio

of the force of friction between two bodies and the force pressing them

together. The coefficient of static friction is the ratio of the maximum static

friction force (F) between the surfaces in contact before movement

commences to the normal (N) force.

 The coefficient of kinetic friction is the ratio of the kinetic friction

force (F) between the surfaces in contact during movement to the normal

force Ff/N. Both static and kinetic coefficients of friction depend on the

pair of surfaces in contact. Their values are determined experimentally. It

also depends on the material used. Moreover, we should be able to

determine the coefficient of friction (µ) between contact surfaces as one

body moves with uniform motion and establish the relationship between

the angle of repose (𝜽) and µ.

The rules of this experiment are to keep clean the surfaces of the

wooden block and plane by wiping them with a piece of scratch paper or

tissue to remove dust and other particles and to make sure not to touch the

surfaces that you will use in this experiment to avoid contamination.

The materials needed for this experiment are:

1.5 m string

1 pc meter stick

1 pc mass hanger

1 pc block (with different surfaces

1 pc digital balance
 1 pc dynamics track with pulley

1 set of weights

The materials that are quite expensive that is why is important to

keep in mind that we should always practice being cautiously careful when

dealing with these kinds of instruments. The material needed are

illustrated on Figure 3.
 Figure 3. Materials

Experiment 102: Friction is divided into two parts with each having

its own objectives. The first part of the experiment determines the

coefficient of friction (µ) between different surfaces in contact as one body

moves against the other with uniform motion. For the second part of the

experiment, it aims to observe the relationship established between the

angle of response (𝜽) and coefficient of friction (µ).

For computation:

Frictional forces is found to be directly proportional to the normal force N

which is mathematically expressed as:

f aN

Or it can be expressed as:

f =kN

The coefficient of friction μ takes the place of k which is the constant of

proportionality. Thus:

f =μN

Part A. Determination of the Coefficient of Friction.

 First, position the track horizontally. Secondly, measure the weight of

the block Wb and the weight of the pan Wp using the digital balance.

Thirdly, tie one end of the strong to the block’s hook and the other end to

the pan passing over the pulley of the plane. Make necessary adjustment

on the length of the string so that the block will have a room for

Figure 4.
displacement along the plane’s surface. Fourthly, choose a surface of the

block (wooden or felt surface). Place the large side of the block on top of
 the track. In the fifth step, slowly ass weights in the pan until you observe a

uniform sliding motion of the block along the plane. Record the total

weight of the pan on the data sheet. After that, repeat steps 4 by adding

weight on top of the block and also adjusting the weights on the pan until

the block moves with uniform sliding motion. Make 5 trials increasing the

total weights of the block each trial. Calculate for the µ for each trial and

finally determine its average value. Next, plot Wb along the x-axis and Wp

along the y-axis. Get the slope of the line. And lastly, repeat steps 1 to 7 but

use the narrow side of the block for the 5 trials. The illustrations in figure 4

shows how the experiment is being conducted on Part A Table 1A and the

illustration on figure 5 is the experiment being conducted on Part A Table

1B.

Table 1a. Determination if the Coefficient Friction (Larger side of the block)
 (Wblock + Weightadded) (Wpan + Weightadded) Coefficient Friction
TRIAL
Wb Wp µ
1 83.8 g 20 g 0.24
2 103.8 g 25 g 0.24
3 113.8 g 30 g 0.26
4 133.8 g 35 g 0.31
5 183.8 g 50 g 0.27
Coefficient Friction, µ Average 0.26

On the first trial of Part A. Table 1A. Determination if the Coefficient

Friction (Larger side of the block), the total weight of the ran required in

order in move 83.8g of the total weight of the block is 20g with a computed

coefficient of friction of 0.24. For the second trial, the total weight of the ran

required in order in move 103.8g of the total weight of the block is 25g with

a computed coefficient of friction of 0.24. For the third trial, the total weight

of the ran required in order in move 113.8g of the total weight of the block

is 30g with a computed coefficient of friction of 0.26. For the fourth trial, the

total weight of the ran required in order in move 133.8g of the total weight

of the block is 35g with a computed coefficient of friction of 0.31. For the

fifth trial, the total weight of the ran required in order in move 183.8g of the
 total weight of the block is 50g with a computed coefficient of friction of

0.27. The

Table 1b. Determination if the Coefficient Friction (Narrow side of the block)
(Wblock + Weightadded) (Wpan + Weightadded) Coefficient Friction
TRIAL
Wb Wp µ
1 83.8 g 20 g 0.24
2 103.8 g 25 g 0.24
3 118.8 g 30 g 0.25
4 153.8 g 35 g 0.23
5 253.8 g 50 g 0.20
Coefficient Friction, µ Average 0.23
average coefficient of friction (µ) is computed to be 0.26.

On the first trial of Part A. Table 1B. Determination if the Coefficient

Friction (Narrow side of the block), the total weight of the ran required in

order in move 83.8g of the total weight of the block is 20g with a computed

coefficient of friction of 0.24. For the second trial, the total weight of the ran

required in order in move 103.8g of the total weight of the block is 25g with

a computed coefficient of friction of 0.24. For the third trial, the total weight

of the ran required in order in move 118.8g of the total weight of the block

is 30g with a computed coefficient of friction of 0.25. For the fourth trial, the
total weight of the ran required in order in move 153.8g of the total weight

of the block is 35g with a computed coefficient of friction of 0.23. For the

fifth trial, the total weight of the ran required in order in move 253.8g of the

total weight of the block is 50g with a computed coefficient of friction of

0.20. The average coefficient of friction (µ) is computed to be 0.23.

Part B. Determination of the Angle of

Response.

Figure 5
 First, remove the string that is tied to the block then place the block,

facing its wider side, to the center of the track’s surface. Secondly,

gradually incline the plane until such time that you observe it slide down

the plane with uniform motion. Thirdly, measure and record the vertical

height (h) and horizontal base (b). Compute the angle of repose using

tanθ=h/b. And lastly, compare tanθ and the average value of µ you

obtained in part A.

Table 2. Determination of the Angle Repose

Vertical Height Horizontal Distance
TRIAL
h b tan𝜽 𝜽

1 31.50 cm 115.79 cm 0.185 10.50o

The vertical height (h) that we’ve recorded from the inclination of the

dynamic track is 31.50cm. We used the meter stick to measure the change

in its height when inclined and we also used the stand with the pivot

clamp to hold it in its place. After measuring its vertical height (h), we

measured the Horizontal Distance (b) of the track in its inclination and got

a measurement of 115.79cm, also using the meter stick. For the tanθ, we

first measured its θ using the angle indicator and got an angle of 10.50 o.
After measuring the θ, we then substitute θ to tanθ and got a computed

value of 0.185.

Figure 6

F i g u r e 6 s

of the Angle of Response.

Conclusion

Based on the experiments that have been conducted, we can conclude

that the area of contact has no significance on the coefficient of friction for

the reason that the results that we obtained from the trials after performing

the experiment produced identical outcomes and it doesn’t necessarily

affect the uniform sliding of the block. Therefore, the orientation of the

block has no influence on the coefficient of friction, but the surface texture

between two surfaces is the one that influences the coefficient of friction

Furthermore, according to the analysis conducted, the uniform

motion of the block is indeed necessary for observation in order for us to

determine subtle changes in our experiment. The uniform motion of the

block helps us determine measurements precisely and it also shows

noticeable changes which makes recording variables easier. Furthermore, it

is necessary to observe uniform motion of the block in each procedure of

the experiment if the body moves at constant speed or motion, the kinetic
friction is also constant. Hence, in each trial, we make sure that the speed of

the block is constant. This uniform motion for each trail make us observe

the experiment clearly with minimal errors.

We can conclude on the line graph that the weight of the block W b(g)

is directly proportional to the weight of the pan W p (g). As the weight of

the block Wb(g) increases, the weight of the pan also increases W p (g). As
the weight of a body increases, the force that opposes the motion of the

body also increases.

The experiment has come to a conclusion that friction does indeed

prove that friction functions everywhere and anywhere in our daily lives.

From walking, to driving, to biking, and even swimming, friction, friction

played always played a special role. If there is no friction, we wouldn’t be

able to we wouldn’t be able to walk, we wouldn’t be able to power up

machines, we wouldn’t be able to push of pull, and we cannot generate

energy such as heat energy, Thermal, Hydro, solar, wind, etc. Friction is

that force holds everything together even on molecular and quantum level.

This experiment show the concepts of friction, as well as its importance to

physics and the theories that surrounds it.