EXPERIMENT 7
FRICTION
DEFINITION AND CAUSES
■ When a body is moving over a surface or makes an effort to move, a force is exerted
between the body & the surface, which is opposing the motion, is known as friction
force.
■ Friction is a contact force that opposes relative motion.
■ The causes of friction are force of adhesion, surface roughness, and deformations
or irregularities of surfaces.
Types of Friction
■ There are two types of friction: static friction &
Kinetic friction.
■ Static friction operates between two surfaces
that aren't moving relative to each other, while
kinetic friction acts between objects in motion.
Law of Friction
■ When an object is moving or makes an effort to move , the friction is proportional and perpendicular to
the normal force (N)
■ fr ∞ N
Coefficient of friction
■ Coefficient of friction is the ratio of friction force to the
normal force. It is a constant value for a pair of materials
and is unitless.
= fr / N
Static friction force
Coefficient of static friction
= fSmax / N
S
■ N = mg
■ Where m → mass of the
object
■ g→ acceleration due to
gravity
Kinetic friction force
■ Coefficient of kinetic friction
k = f k / N
■ N = mg
■ Where m → mass of the object
■ g→ acceleration due to gravity
Part A – Calculation of coefficient
of kinetic friction, k
Uniform motion; Fapplied = fk
N = mg
fk ∞ N
k = f k / N
Part B –Calculation of friction coefficients from
friction-time graph. [Prove that S ˃ k ]
S= fS max /N
k= fk / N
Calculation of friction coefficients from friction-time graph
■ S = fSmax / N
■ k = fk / N