Friction Lab

Name: Partners Name:

Objectives: 1. Identify the coefficient of friction. 2. Describe what factors affect the coefficient of friction between two objects. 3. Analyze the collected data. Equipment: Level Plane Spring Scale Wooden Block Sandpaper Platform balance Various masses

Procedure: 1. After collecting the needed materials, set up your apparatus as seen in figure 1. Make sure your board is horizontal and place the block on the larger (or broader) wood side. 2. Make a free-body diagram. Include the following frictions: Fpull, Fgravity, Fnormal, and Ffriction in the box above.

Part 1: Wooden Surface 1. Find the mass of the block using the balance. Convert this to kg and place this in data table 1 as the mass for trial 1. 2. Pull the block so that it moves at a constant velocity across the board. The scale should show a steady reading. Place your scale reading in the data table. 3. Add at least 100g to the block and find the force needed to pull the block at a constant velocity again. 4. Report step 3 two more times, each time changing the mass of the block by at least 100g. Record your scale readings in table 1.

Data Table #1: Wooden surface

Trial 1 2 3 4

Mass (kg)

F pull (N)

Part 2: Sandpaper Data Table #2: Sandpaper surface 1. Now, flip the block so that the sandpaper side is face down on the plane. 2. Take the first reading with no masses added to the block. Pull the block at a constant velocity and record the reading in table 2. 3. Add at least 100g to the block and find the force needed to pull the block at a constant velocity again. 4. Report step 3 two more times, each time changing the mass of the block by at least 100g. Record your scale readings in table 2.

Trial 5 6 7 8

Mass (kg)

F pull (N)

Part 3: Narrow Wooden Surface 1. Now, turn the block on the narrow wooden side with no masses on it. 2. Pull the block at constant velocity and record the reading in table 3. 3. Add at least 100g to the block and find the force needed to pull the block at a constant velocity again. 4. Report step 3 two more times, each time changing the mass of the block by at least 100g. Record your scale readings in table 3.

Data Table #3: Narrow Wooden surface

Trial 9 10 11 12

Mass (kg)

F pull (N)

Calculations: 1. Copy the forces from the spring scale (Fpull) into the calculation table. 2. Find the weight of your block by multiplying the mass (in kg) by 9.81 (gravity). 3. Find the normal force from the block weight. (Use a free-body diagram for this). 4. Using the equation,
F friction FNormal

, calculate your coefficient of friction ().

Trial 1 2 3 4

F pull

F friction

F gravity

F normal

Average for trials 1 through 4 = If you pull the block at a constant velocity, there is no net force, and therefore no 6 7 If this is true, then the force you are pulling the block with is equal to the force of 8 Average for trials 5 through 8 = 9 10 11 12 Average for trials 9 through 12 = 5

Questions: 1. What difference did you see as mass was added to the block?

2. Do you think that the change in mass had an effect on ? Describe the reasoning for your answer.

3. How do the does the change from part 1 to part 2? How do the does the change from part 1 to part 3? Show your comparison in a visual way (chart, graph, diagram, ect..).

4. From your data, what does depend on?

5. What does the frictional force depend on?

6. How do you think would change if the block was on an incline plane?

7. How would the frictional force change if the block was on an incline?

8. Explain in your own words why we see these changes.

9. What is a question that you have about the activity?

10. Use your book and outside sources to answer your question. Submit this question in essay form, on a separate sheet, and include at least 2 interesting things that you found through your research. (minimum 1 page, TNR font, size 12 font, and standard origins)