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Forces 2: Friction

The key forces acting on objects in motion are: 1. Weight (downward force of gravity) 2. Normal force (perpendicular to surface of contact) 3. Friction (opposes motion between surfaces in contact) 4. Applied force (any external force causing motion) Considering these forces provides insight into why objects do or do not move as expected.

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Emmanuel Sandram
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48 views15 pages

Forces 2: Friction

The key forces acting on objects in motion are: 1. Weight (downward force of gravity) 2. Normal force (perpendicular to surface of contact) 3. Friction (opposes motion between surfaces in contact) 4. Applied force (any external force causing motion) Considering these forces provides insight into why objects do or do not move as expected.

Uploaded by

Emmanuel Sandram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Forces 2

FRICTION
Friction, Ffrict
• Force that prevents or tries to prevent the sliding
or slipping of two surfaces in contact.
– Acts along the common surface in a direction so as to
oppose the relative motion of the surfaces.
• Is independent of the area of contact if the
normal reaction is constant.
Types of friction
 Sliding/dynamic/kinetic friction ( Fk): the source of friction is
the contact between two surfaces, at least one of which is in motion.
 resists the sustenance of motion
 Is independent of the speed of motion.

• Fk =µk x R where:
 µk is the coefficient of sliding friction
 R is the normal reaction force.
• Values of µk provide a measure of the relative amount of
attraction of the two surfaces for each other.
– The more surface molecules attract each other, the greater the µk values
and the greater the friction force.
Types of friction
• Static/Limiting frictional force (Fs ) : The
frictional force that must be overcome by a body in
order to move
– resists the movement beginning
– results when the surfaces of two objects are at rest relative
to one another and a force exists on one of the objects to set
it into motion relative to the other object.
– balances the force exerted on the object such that the
stationary object remains at rest.
Static/Limiting frictional
force (Fs)
• It has an upper limit.
 Fs≤ =µs x R
• Fs is dependent upon the types of surfaces attempting to
move across each other
• µs values are generally greater than the µk values for the
same two surfaces.
 Typically it takes more force to budge an object into
motion than it does to maintain the motion once it
has been started.
 Object will not move unless the force can overcome
static friction.
• When coefficients are listed they are given for one surface
on another surface
Example
• A box of mass 5kg lies unmoving on a flat horizontal
surface. The coefficients of static and dynamic friction
(μs and μk) are 0.4 and 0.32 respectively.
a. Identify the forces acting on the object
b. Determine the values of static and dynamic friction.
c. Which of these two frictional forces is currently acting on
the box?
Acceleration due to gravity = 10m/s2.
Cont…
Normal R

Applied Force F
Friction Fr Box

Weight W
In this case there is no motion of the box hence no applied force and
also no friction. The forces remaining are the Normal and Weight
Example
a). Horizontal forces: none
Vertical forces: Weight of the box, Normal reaction of the
surface.
b). Box neither moving vertically nor horizontally, therefore
all forces are balanced.
Wbox = RN RN=mg = (5kg)(10m/s2) = 50N
Fstatic = μsRN = (0.4)(50N) = 20N
Fkinetic = μkRN= (0.32)(50N) =16N
Types of friction
• Fluid friction differs from contact friction because
the amount of fluid friction depends on how fast the
object is moving through the fluid. The greater the speed,
the greater the friction.
Types of friction
 Air resistance (Fair):friction results from air pushing on an
object as it is moving.
 force which acts upon objects as they travel through the air
 frequently neglected due to
 Its negligible magnitude
 The fact that it is mathematically difficult to predict its value
• It is most noticeable for objects which travel at high speeds or for objects
with large surface areas.
• A type of fluid friction.
friction

• Causes wear and tear.


• friction makes motion possible
• friction also makes it hard to move
objects
• reducing friction makes it easier to move
objects
Friction in the human body
• Friction affects our bodies most in our joints
• Synovial joints (ball and socket joint, hinge joint and
sliding joint) contain synovial fluid.
• The body uses cartilage and the synovial fluid to reduce
friction in joints.
• Osteoarthritis happens when cartilage wears away over
time and exposes bone to bone and increases friction,
which is very painful
Example 1
• A block lies at rest (not moving)
on a rough inclined slope; what
forces act on the block?
• Weight of the block acts vertically
downwards.
• The slope exerts a normal reaction
force on it perpendicular to the
slope.
• In the absence of any other force
the block would slide down the
slope. The block is at rest so there
must be another force acting.
Which is?
• Friction
EXERCISE
1. A ball is thrown. What forces act on the ball, when it is
travelling horizontally?
2. What forces act on a trailer attached to a tow rope
being pulled by a car?

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