APPLIED MATHS I.

A UNIT 2 Friction
Presentation College, San Fernando Darien Wong

Centre Number: 160042 CANDIDATE NUMBER: TEACHER:MR. Akaloo FORM: 61S1

Darien Wong

Friction

Contents
Statement of Task ................................................................................................................................ 3 Aim : .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Definition of the Variables ............................................................................................................... 3 Description of Plan ........................................................................................................................... 4 Data collected..................................................................................................................................... 5 Activity Table .................................................................................................................................. 5 Design of Experiment ................................................................................................................... 6 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Results from the Experiment .................................................................................................... 12 Calculations ........................................................................................................................................ 13 Evaluation ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Assumptions ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Sources of Error .................................................................................................................................. 19 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 21

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Statement of Task
Aim :
The aim of this experiment is to determine if the coefficient of friction, is independent of the area of contact of two rough surfaces which are in relative motion. This analysis also seeks to obtain the minimum completion time for this investigation. The experiment will involve the movement of a wooden cuboid across a horizontal table. The movement will be driven by a pulley system in which the cuboid is connected to a mass (particle). The minimum completion time was found by obtaining the critical path for major tasks which were carried out to make this experiment feasible.

Definition of the Variables

Controlled Variables: Mass of wooden cuboid, Mass of the particle Distance, x, moved by particle. Length of light, inextensible string used for pulley

Manipulated Variable: Area of contact for the two surfaces in relative motion (faces of the cuboid).

Responding Variable: Time taken for particle to move distance, x.

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Description of Plan

The critical path analysis will be made feasible using accurate estimations of the time it would take to carry out each event. The estimations will be obtained from a previously done experiment in which similar tasks were carried out. Each event will be coded with a letter and utilizing an algorithm the activity on node diagram will be created. After which the float times are to be calculated and the critical path found. From the experiment, the distance, from the point of release of the particle to being incident on the floor will be recorded. The time taken, t for the particle to move through the distance, will also be recorded. An average value for the time taken will be calculated. Equations modeling the system of connected particles will then be created. The equations will conform to Newtons 2nd law of motion. The acceleration of the bodies will be calculated using the equation of motion for constant acceleration. The coefficient of friction will then be calculated using the friction formula. The experiment will then be repeated using different areas of contact. This will be achieved by alternating the faces of the cuboid which are in contact with the table top.

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Data collected Activity Table

The following table lists the activities involved in the project along with the estimated time each activity takes. The estimated times were obtained from a previously done experiment with similar tasks. The table will assist in creating an activity network to determine the critical path and thus be used to maximize efficiency.

Activity Name
A B C

Activity
Design and Model experiment Gather Equipment Measure Dimensions of Cuboid and label faces M ,N and O Obtain the mass of the wooden cuboid using an electronic balance Measure distance, from table top to floor Attach pulley to cuboid and have it locked in place. Attach particle to the other end of the pulley and allow it to hang at the edge of the table top Set up Video camera to observe the motion of the particle Conduct the experiment

Preceding Activities
A B

Time (minutes)
20 15 5

E F

B B

3 5

15

I J

C,F,G,H

60 10

Find and record values I for and Table 1: showing the activities and the estimated times for each activity

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Design of Experiment
Apparatus: Measuring Tape, electronic balance, rough wooden cuboid, particle of known mass, smooth pulley, light inextensible string, rough horizontal table.

Diagram:

Light, inextensible string

Smooth pulley

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Rough Table top Wooden cuboid

Particle

Floor
Figure 1: showing set up of apparatus

Video Camera

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Method:
The contact area was calculated by measuring the dimensions of the cuboid which would be in contact with the rough table top. This was done via the measuring tape. The mass of the cuboid was recorded using the electronic balance. The apparatus was then set up as shown in Figure 1 on page 5. The cuboid was locked in place on the rough horizontal table and the light inextensible string was attached to it. The string was then passed over the smooth pulley and connected to the particle of mass, 0.5kg. It was then ensured that the particle was allowed to hang freely and that the string between the pulley and the cuboid was parallel to the table top. The distance of the particle to the floor was then measured using the measuring tape. It was also ensured that the length of the string between the pulley and the cuboid was sufficient such that the cuboid was unable to fall off the table top. The video camera was turned on and recording began. The cuboid was unlocked removing the system from equilibrium and the particle plunged to the floor. The time taken for this to occur was found accurately from the video camera. This was repeated to obtain 3 set of values for time, t to which an average, tavg was calculated. The experiment was then repeated using the second and third face of the cuboid which possessed a different surface area. The experiment was then repeated 4 more times to obtain accurate values.

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Analysis
The following algorithm was used to model the order of events during this experiment and thus assist in determining the critical path. START: Write down the original vertices and then a second copy of them alongside. If activity Y must follow activity X. Draw an arc from original vertex Y to shadow vertex X. (In this way you construct a bipartite graph) STEP1: Make a list of all the original vertices which have no arcs incident on them. STEP2: Delete all the vertices found in step 1 and their corresponding shadow vertices and all arcs incident to these vertices. STEP3: Repeat steps 1 and 3 until all vertices have been used.

Activity Name

Preceding Activities

A B A C B D B E B F B G B H B I C,F,G,H J I Table 3: showing activities and their precedence restrictions.

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The following was done via the algorithm; A B C D E F G H I J A B C D E F G H I i J B C D E F G H i I J A B C D E F G H I J

B C D E F G H I J C D E F G H I J

C,D,E,F,G,H I I J J

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The following is the activity network for the major tasks undertaken in the investigation. The activity on node technique was used to represent the network. The graph indicates the duration, earliest start time and latest start time for activities. START 0 0

A 0

20 0

B 20

15 20

E 35

3 47

H 35

15 35

35 45

35 43

35 45

35 45

I 50

60 50

J 110

10 110

FINISH 120 120

Darien Wong Key Activity

Friction

Time taken Latest start time

Earliest start time

Activity A B C D E F G H I J

Time taken (minutes) 20 15 5 7 3 5 5 15 60 10

Earliest Start Time (minutes) 0 20 35 35 35 35 35 35 50 110

Latest Start Time (minutes) 0 20 45 43 47 45 45 35 50 110

Float Time = Latest start time Earliest start time(minutes) 0 0 10 8 12 10 10 0 0 0

Table 4: showing the float times of each activity

The Critical path was found to be; A B H I J

The Forward passes and backward passes were calculated giving the earliest and latest start times for each event respectively. The activities with float times of zero were said to be critical to the efficient completion of the experiment. With these activities started and completed on time the experiment was estimated to take a total time of 120 minutes.

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Results from the Experiment

The table below shows the results recorded from the experiment

Contact Area (m2) Exp1

Exp2

Time taken for particle to hit the floor (s) t1 2.2 2.0 2.5
2.2 2.4 2.1

t2 2.3 2.1 2.4

2.4 2.1 2.2

T3 2.1 2.3 2.1

2.1 2.3 2.1

0.50 0.75 1.0

0.50 0.75 1.0 0.50 0.75 1.0 0.50 0.75 1.0 0.50 0.75 1.0

tavg = 2.2 2.1 2.3

2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.3

Exp3

2.1 2.3 2.1

2.1 2.3 2.1

2.2 2.0 2.5

2.2 2.4 2.1

2.3 2.1 2.4

2.4 2.1 2.2

Exp4

Exp5

2.1 2.3 2.1

2.3 2.1 2.4

2.2 2.0 2.5

Table 2: Showing Results From the Experiment

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Calculations
Let; mA : mass of the cuboid mB: mass of the particle T: tension in the string R: Normal reaction force between the table top and cuboid FR: Sliding Frictional Force : coefficient of friction for the two surfaces in contact : distance from particle to floor g: acceleration due to gravity taken as 9.81 ms-2 Nota Bene: Downwards is taken as positive that is the direction the particle falls.

Figure 2: showing the forces acting on the system

Light, inextensible string FR T Smooth pulley

T ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / Rough Table top mAg Wooden cuboid mBg

Particle

Floor

Video Camera

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NEWTONS 2nd LAW

Newtons 2nd law states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the external force acting on the body and takes place in the direction of the force. The resulting equation is F=ma .

Applying Newtons 2nd w.r.t. the cuboid T FR = mAa .(i)

Applying Newtons 2nd Law w.r.t the particle mBg T = mBa ............................(ii) (i)+(ii) mBg FR = mAa + mBa FR = mBg a(mA + mB).(iii)

Sliding frictional force, FR= R

Consider the cuboid. During its motion there is no vertical movement hence the resultant of the forces in the vertical plane is zero R=mAg FR = mAg

Substituting FR = mAg in equation (iii) mAg = mBg a(mA + mB)

.(iv)

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Recall: Equation of motion for constant acceleration (In accordance with Newtons 2nd law of motion the acceleration acts in the direction of the resultant force) Initally, the particle is at rest Hence,

Substituting

in equation (iv)

For Expirment:
mA = 1 kg mB = 0.5 kg = 1.5m

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Coefficient of friction,

Contact Area(m2) 0.5 Exp1 0.75 1.0 Exp2 0.5 0.75 1.0 0.5 0.75 1.0 0.5 0.75 1.0 0.5 0.75 1.0

Average time taken, tavg 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.3 Table 5: summary of results

0.41 0.40 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.41 0.40 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.41 0.40 0.41

Exp3

Exp4

Exp5

For Exp1:

= =
= 0.406

0.41 (to 2 sig. fig.)

For Exp2:

= =
= 0.406

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Darien Wong For Exp3:

Friction

= =
= 0.406

0.41 (to 2 sig. fig.) For Exp4:

= =
= 0.406

0.41 (to 2 sig. fig.) For Exp5:

= =
= 0.406

0.41 (to 2 sig. fig.)

average coefficient of friction :

=0.41

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Evaluation

In order to obtain the critical path, graph theory and the previously stated algorithm were utilized. The critical path was found to be A B H I J
This corresponds to the activities A: Design and model experiment, B: Gather equipment, H: Set up video camera to observe the motion of the particle, I: Conduct the experiment J: Find and record values for and

This indicates the activities which must be started on time to ensure that the experiment was completed in the minimum time. Any delays in the commencing or termination of these activities would have resulted in experiment taking longer to complete. The experiment was calculated to have duration 120 minutes as long as the critical path was used with no delays.
When the surface of a body moves or tends to moves over that of another, each body experiences a frictional force. The frictional forces act along a common surface, and each is in such a direction as to oppose the relative motion of the surfaces. The frictional force which exists between two adjacent surfaces which are in relative motion is called the sliding (or dynamic or kinetic) frictional force. There are three laws of friction which are as follows: 1. The frictional force between two surfaces opposes their relative or attempted motion 2. Frictional forces are independent of the area of contact of the surfaces 3. For two surfaces which have no relative motion the limiting frictional force is directly proportional to the normal reaction. This experiment seeks to verify the second law of friction that is the frictional force generated is independent of the contact area of the surfaces. The coefficient of friction, usually lies in the region {0 < < 1} and is dependent on the materials in contact. Therefore for this investigation the

coefficient of friction is specific to the two surfaces in relative motion that is the cuboid and tabletop. The experiment found that for the three different contact areas the coefficient of friction was approximately the same and had an average value of 0.41. This is as expected since the equation determining the frictional force is independent of contact area and dependent only on the coefficient of friction and the normal reaction the body has with the surface. The coefficient of friction of wood on wood surfaces usually ranges from 0.25 to 0.50 for dry surfaces. Hence, the value calculated for the coefficient of friction corresponds with previously done experiments as the cuboid and table top were both wood.

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Assumptions
The following assumptions were made when modeling the system investigated; 1. The body of mass, mB was assumed to be a particle; therefore drag forces on the body were neglected. The body of mass, mB could have experienced a drag force due to air resistance, resulting in a lower acceleration on the body than calculated. 2. The string was considered to be light and inextensible. Therefore, calculations did not account for the effect the weight and extension of the string would have had on the acceleration of the connected bodies. Also, the string would have exerted a force on the pulley. 3. The pulley was considered smooth. Thus, its coefficient of friction was zero. If a force was experienced here (that is the pulley was not smooth) it would have changed the system as a new force would have been introduced to the system. 4. Other resistive forces on the cuboid (air resistance) were considered to be negligible and were ignored. Nevertheless they may have affected the acceleration of the connected bodies.

Sources of Error

The human reaction time would have created some inconsistencies in readings therefore an average was taken to reduce this random error and increase the precision of the results.

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Conclusion
The critical path for the experiment was found to be;

It was also calculated that the experiment had a completion time of 120 minutes

The coefficient of friction was found to be independent of the contact area as expected, also the coefficient of friction between the cuboids (wood) and the tabletop (wood) was found to be; 0.41(to 2 sig fig)

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Bibliography
Bostock, L., & Chandler, S. (1984). Mathematics-Mechanics and Probability. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes Ltd. Muncaster, R. (1993). A-Level Physics Fourth Edition. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

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