Practical Activity Motion and Friction

Covering 2.11
Madhur Verma

Aim: What are the forces of resistance on a moving body?

Risk Assessment

Identify Rating Minimisation

Scraping skin on sand paper Low Hold the sand paper from the non rough side and
ensure that you skin is a good distance away.
Dropping the spring balance Low Do not hold up the balance connected to the wood
block; physically hold it with your hands if required.

Procedure

1. Place the wood block on the table.

2. Connect the spring balance to the hook at the end of the wood block.
3. Move the spring balance and record the spring balance reading just before the wood slides.
4. Attempt to take the highest possible reading before the wood block moves.
5. Unhook the spring balance from the wood.
6. Place the wood block on the floor.
7. Connect the spring balance to the hook at the end of the wood block.
8. Repeat steps 3-5.
9. Place a surface on the table; sand paper, cloth, bubble wrap etc.
10. Place the wood block on the surface and connect the spring
balance.
11. Hold down the surface if it moves when the spring balance is
moved.
12. Repeat steps 3-5.
13. Repeat steps 9-12 for at least 5 different surfaces

Results

Surface Spring Balance reading (N) Observation

Table top (Tt) 0.55 Easy
Sand paper (Sp) 1 Difficult
Cloth (Cl) 1.1 Difficult
Bubble wrap (Bw) 0.7 Medium
Cork (Co) 0.8 Medium
Lino (Li) 0.7 Medium
Carpet (Ca) 0.8 Medium
Metal (M) 0.45 Easy
Perspex (P) 0.9 Difficult
Ramp Flat (R(f)) 0.6 Easy
Ramp Elevated (R(e)) 1.25 Difficult
Curtain Nylon (Cn) 0.55 Easy
Analysis

1. Draw a graph of Friction versus Surface.

2. Dra
w a

diagram to show the microscopic view of a smooth and rough surface.

How do the projections cause resistance to motion?

When both surfaces are in contact and attempting to slide across one another, the projections on
each surface interlock and this causes them to resist motion. The surfaces will not slide across each
other until enough force is applied to overcome this resistance.

3. Explain how friction could be reduced?

For this experiment, friction could have been reduced by applying powder to the surface. This would
have reduced friction as the powder forms a layer between the moving surfaces and fills in the
depressions on the surfaces. Pencils, acting as rollers, could also have been placed under the wood
block to allow it to roll over the other surface with less force required, as rolling friction is less than
sliding friction.

4. Diagram showing all the forces acting on the body.

5. List 3 examples where friction is an advantage and 3

examples where friction is a disadvantage.

Friction is an advantage when; Braking as the intention is to

stop and friction helps resist the momentum that the vehicle is
running on, allowing it to stop faster, Walking as we use friction
to push our foot backwards resulting in us moving forward.
When playing Sports such as Soccer and Rugby, to increase grip, we create more friction by adding
studs or spikes to our shoes. This ensures that we do not slip when running.
Friction is a disadvantage; in Formula 1 Racing as the objective of the driver is to move as fast as
possible and the air resistance slows them down. Playing Billiards, friction is a disadvantage as it
means the ball has to be hit harder to allow it to travel for longer, however without friction the ball
would never stop, so it is also necessary. For Car Engine Pistons, friction prevents the pistons from
performing at their maximum potential and leads them to waste energy.

Conclusion

Friction is the resistive force faced by an object/surface when it attempts to slide over another
object/surface. Frictional forces resist the driving force and act to the slow the moving surface
down. Because of friction, a greater amount of force is required to slide two surfaces across one
another. When a small force is applied to an object and it does not move, this is called Stationary
friction. The object is not moving because of the frictional force is balancing out the driving force.
When the object does move, the driving force has exceeded the frictional force and
Dynamic/Kinetic friction occurs. The object is moving however a frictional force still opposes the
driving force, although it is not great enough to stop the object from moving.

From our view, a surface may seem to be smooth; however every surface contains microscopic
projectiles. When two surfaces attempt to slide across one another, these projectiles collide and
attempt to resist motion, this is friction.
Friction is what causes a moving object
to stop when there is no driving force
pushing the object; this is because the
projectiles of each surface find it difficult
to pass across one another. When there
is not driving force applied to the object,
there is no frictional force as it has not
driving force to oppose. The maximum
static friction is greater than the
maximum kinetic friction i.e. just before
the object moves, the driving force
required to move it is greater than the
force required to keep it moving.
Extension Energy lost to Friction

When two surface slide across one another, a friction force

opposes the driving force. The kinetic energy of the driving force
is lost to friction as friction converts it into another form of
energy such as heat or sound. This can be demonstrating by
rubbing your hands together. When the projectiles of each hand
slide across one another, friction occurs and your hands heat up.
If the rubbing speed is increased or the hands are pushed
together harder, a higher amount of heat is created. This is
because heat requires energy and rubbing faster and pushing
harder creates a greater frictional force and can create more
heat. This is how fires were originally started suing word, bark
and leaves. Spinning the spindle fast enough created high
amounts of friction due to its circular motion and this generated
enough heat to start a fire.

Energy is also lost to friction as sound. This can be noticed when suddenly braking in a car. The
sound of the screeching tires is the result of the friction created between the tires and ground.
When the tires come to a stop, they are no longer rolling however still move forward due to
momentum, this creates a high amount of friction resulting in heat and sound. When both surfaces
are rough, a higher amount of heat and a louder sound is created. This is because more energy is
required to slide the surfaces across one another and a greater amount of energy is lost, allowing
more energy to be used to generate heat and sound. If friction was not present between two sliding
surfaces, heat or sound would not be generated, this is how we know energy is lost to friction.

Image References
1 - http://www.schoolofhowto.com/8-ways-start-fire-matches/

Madhur Verma