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Forces and FrictionInvestigation Lab :
Coefficients of Static and KineticFriction
Michael MohamedSPH4U0-CMarch 20
th
, 2009
 
INTRODUCTION:
In the study of Newtonian physics is it is useful to consider almost allobjects which are not within a vacuum to be subject to the force of friction; inthis usage ‘friction’ refers to the overall effect that can be approximated interms of applied forces by various particles colliding against the object whilethey are in contact. These forces are typically used in applying resistingforces against objects in motion, as to adhere them to the surfaces that theyare lateral to, or in contact with through a motion. An example of this mightbe air particle friction; when an object moves through a medium comprisedof air, the particles of that air colliding against the object, creating a resistingforce in the opposite direction of the motion. Because of this, the effect of terminal velocity takes place whereby an object moving with a constant forceacting on it (for example, gravity) can only attain a certain speed while in amedium of air due to the forces of air particle friction acting on it in theopposite direction. There are two main types of friction for objects that are relevant toobjects that are placed with their surfaces in contact, excluding the airparticle friction force. One is static friction; this can be described as thefriction which keeps a body that is not moving resistant to forces that couldpotentially put it in motion. The force needed to overcome static friction isspecific for two objects of specific material types, as well as the mass of theobject with a force being applied to it; when static friction is overcome theobject will enter motion of some kind. While the object is in motion, there isstill friction acting on it which resists it from moving with acceleration; whilethis force is not overcome the object will remain at a constant speed. This isknown as kinetic friction; when it is overcome the object will begin moving innon-uniform motion, with the force affecting the acceleration being thedifference between the applied force and the force of kinetic friction.In both cases, the force of friction can be related by a coefficient whichis specific to the two materials in contact; this force is equal to the appliedforce needed to overcome each type of friction divided by the normal forceacting on the object, and it is represented by the symbol μ. For example, thecoefficient of kinetic friction can be described as the force needed to beovercome in order to cause an object to move non-uniformly divided by thenormal force acting on the object, or μ
= F
/F
N
. Similarly, the coefficient of static friction can be described as the force needed to overcome inertia on a
 
non-moving object divided by the normal force acting on the object, or μ
S
=F
S
/F
N
. These coefficients are useful in calculating the total force on an objectagainst a surface where the materials of the surface and the object areknown.
PURPOSE:
 The purpose of this lab was to investigate various ways of calculatingcoefficients of static and kinetic friction through experiments both using andnot using Newton scales. The question of how one can measure static frictionin two ways is addressed and the results of the experiments compared. Forstatic friction, a comparison was made between the calculated coefficientusing a Newton scale and the coefficient calculated without a Newton scale;percent difference was calculated to try and show possible sources of errorfrom one compared to the other. A comparison was also made from thecalculated coefficients of static friction, as the coefficient of kinetic friction istypically of a lower value.
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