Fact

orsaf
fect
ingf
ri
cti
onalf
orce

Pr
ojectai
ms:

Themai npur posesoft

hisproj
ectaretol
etstudent
s:
1. Appl ytheconceptsofNewton’sLawsinthestudyoff r
ict
ion.
2. Invest i
gatetherel
ati
onshi
psamongdi ff
erentfactors(e.
g.mass,sur
face
area, surfacet
ype,nor
malreacti
onet
c.)andfri
ctionalf
orce.

Lear
ningobj
ect
ives:

1. Propose hypotheses f
or investi
gat
ion and ident
if
y dependent and
i
ndependentv ar
iabl
esi
nexper i
ment.
2. Coll
ectquanti
tati
veandquali
tati
vedatawithaccur
acy.
3. Representi
nformati
oninappropri
ategraphi
calandmathemati
calt
erms.

Task:

Student
shavetoident
if
yfactorsthataffectthemagnit
udeoffri
cti
onalf
orce
andperfor
m experi
mentst ot estthei
rhy pothesi
s.Concl
usi
onsshouldbe
drawnbasedonexperi
mentalresult
s.

Appar
atus/
Mat
eri
als:

Anyappr opr
iateappar
atusandmat er
ialspr
oposedbyst udent
sarewelcomed.
Typical apparatus i
ncludes ident
ical wooden bl ocks (wit
h different
dimensionsont hethreesides)
,spr i
ng bal
ance,rope,pull
ey,wei
ght ,and
dif
ferentsurfaces(e.
g.sandpaper,waxpaper ,towel,aluminum f
oil,table
surf
aceet c.
)andsoon.

Pr
e-knowl
edge:

Fri
cti
onplaysamaj orrol
einourdail
yli
fe.Wit
houti
t,wecouldnotdri
veacar,
walkorevenstayseatedinourchai
rs.Thefor
ceoffr
ict
ionactual
lyr
efer
stoa
for
cet hatr
esist
smot i
onwhent woobj ect
sareincontact.Themaxi mum
for
ceofst ati
cf r
icti
onbetweent wosur f
acescanbemeasur edfrom the
mi
nimum appl
i
edf
orceact
ingonanobj
ectt
hatmakesi
tst
art
stomov
e.

Atthei
nst
anttheobj
ect
st
artsmov
i f=F
ng,

Fi
gur
e1:
Dir
ect
ionoft
hef
ri
cti
onal
for
cei
sopposi
tet
otheappl
i
edf
orce.

Thedirect
ionofthefri
cti
onalfor
ceonanobj ecti
spar
all
elt
othesurfacewit
h
whichtheobjectisincontactandopposit
et othei
mpendingmotion(st
ati
c
fr
ict
ion)ortheact ualmoti
on( ki
net
icfr
icti
on)oftheobjectr
elat
ivetothe
surf
ace.

Possi
blei
nvest
igat
ions:

1. St
udyther
elati
onshi
pbetweenmassandf r
ict
ionalfor
ce:
St
udentscan carr
youti nvesti
gat
ionson whet herobj
ectofdi
ff
erent
masseswouldaff
ectthef
rict
ionalf
orce.

2. Studytherel
ati
onshi
pbetweencontactar
eaandf ri
cti
onalfor
ce:
Studentscancarryoutinvest
igat
ionsonwhet herobjectwithdi
ff
erent
contactar
easwouldaff
ectthefri
cti
onalf
orce.

3. St
udytherel
ati
onshi
pbetweendiffer
entsurf
acetypesandfr
ict
ionalfor
ce:
St
udentscancarr
youtinvesti
gat
ionsonwhet herobj
ectswi
thsurfaceof
di
ff
erentt
ypeswouldaf
fectthefr
icti
onalf
orce.

Someotherpossi
blescenar
iosstudentsmaycomeupwit
hincl
udevel
oci
tyof
the movi
ng object (
invol
ves kinet
icfri
cti
on)
,incl
i
nat
ion of t
he pl
ane,
magnit
udeoftheappli
edforceandsoon.
Teacher
s’not
e:

The l
eveloffri
cti
on t
hatdi
ffer
entmateri
als exhi
biti
s measured bythe
coef
fi
cientoff
ri
cti
on.Themagni
tudeoftheforceofstat
icf
rict
ionbetween

anyt
wo sur
facesi
ncont
acthasav
alueof ,wher
e i
sthe

coef
fici
entofstati
cfri
ctonandNi
i st
henormalforce.Thehi
ghert
heval
ueof
,t
hestrongeristhefr
ict
ional
for
cethatr
esi
ststhemot i
oni
ftwoobj
ect
sare
goi
ngt
osl
i
depasteachot
her
.Themaxi
mum st
ati
cfr
ict
ioni
sobt
ainedwhen

.Thi
ssi
tuat
ioni
scal
l
edi
mpendi
ngmot
ion.

Therearediff
erentt ypesoff r
ict
ion:st
atic,ki
neti
c,deformation,roll
i
ng,etc.If
oneappl i
esasmal lf or
cet osli
det woobj ectspassingeachot her,t
het wo
objectswil
lnotstartt omov eifthemaxi mum stati
cfrict
ionalforceisgreater
thantheappli
edf orce.Thisisstaticfr
icti
on.Ont heotherhand, i
foneappl i
es
af or
ceal i
tt
lebitstrongert hanfss othattheobjectsstarttoslide,weent er
theregimeofki neticf r
ict
ionwher eonest il
lhast oapplyf orcetokeept he
objectsl
idi
ng,butthef orcedoesnothav etobeasst rongast hestat
icfr
icti
on.

Fi
gur
e2:
Agr
aphoff
ri
cti
onal
for
cev
ersusappl
i
edf
orce

Theoret
icalexpectat
ion:
Thefri
cti
onalforceisexpect
edtobedoubl
edi
fwedoubl
ethemass
ofthewoodenbl ockbystacki
ngonebl
ockonthet
opofanot
her
.By
measuring and r
ecor
ding t
he for
ces requi
red t
o move di
ff
erent
masses ( number of bl ,we expect an i
ocks) ncr
easi
ng li
near
r
elat
ionshipbet
weenmassandf ri
cti
onalfor
ce.

Usi ngdifferentsurf
acesoft hesamebl ockast hecontactsur f
acewe
canchanget hecontactar ea.Thef orcesmeasur edshoul dbesi mil
ar.
Thisshowst hatthereisnodi rectrel
at ionshipbetweensur facearea
andf r
icti
onalforce.Inprinciple,whetheraboxofagi venmasshasa
l
ar gerorsmal l
ersur f
acecont actar ea,t hemaxi mum amountof
stat i
cf r
icti
onshoul dbet hesamesi ncef ri
cti
onispr oporti
onalonly
ont het otalnormalf orce.Howev er,inr ealit
y,thef r
icti
onalf or
ce
variesbet weendi ff
erentsur facesbecauset hecoeffi
cientoff ri
cti
on
variesbet weendi f
ferentsur faces(seef ol
lowing).

Fordi f
ferentsur f
acet ypes,thecoeffi
cientoff r
ictionv ari
es.Ther e
are no si mpler ules to descri
be how t he coef fi
cientoff r
icti
on
changeswi thdi f
ferentt y
pesofsur faces.Gener allyspeaki ng,the
smoot hert hesur face,theweakert hef ri
ction.Mat eri
alst hatf eel
roughwoul dnormal l
yhav eal ar
gerfri
cti
on.Si ncet hereisnosi mple
mat hemat i
calr ules relati
ng fri
cti
onalf orces bet ween di ffer
ent
surfaces,st udentsmayusebarchar tort ablet or epresentt heir
fi
ndings.

Usef ulnotes:
Att het imewhenst udent
sobt ainpreli
minar
yr esul
tsforanal
ysi
s,
teacher scanr emindthem theimpor tanceofcontrol
li
ngvari
abl
es:
thati s,whil
et est
ingapar t
icul
arf act
or,theothersshoul
dbekept
unchangedt hr
oughouttheexperiment.

Ifstudentspullthespri
ngbalanceort hestri
ngatt
achedt othemass
atanangl einsteadofpull
inghor i
zontall
y,t
eacher
scanr emindt hem
thatatdiffer
entangles,t
heforceact i
ngonanobj ectwillbedifferent
andt hiscanaf fectt
heresult
s.Whi lestudyi
ngthefactorofsur face
types,teacherscansuggestst udentst otakeacl osel ookatt he
diff
erentsurfacesanddr aw picturesofhow t hesur f
acesact ual l
y
l
ookl ikesoast osti
mulatethei
rt hi
nkinginhowt hesur facetexture
affectsfr
icti
on.
Presentati
ons
Thet eacherconduct edt wopr esentati
onsi nt hi
st rial.Bef or
et he
st
udent simplement edt heirexper i
ment s,theyf i
rstpr esentedt heir
hypothesistobet ested,theexper imentalsetup,di fferentv ari
ables,
precauti
ons and pr edicti
ons et c.on a post er.Thi s present ati
on
ai
med atpr ovidi
ng a pr eli
mi naryev al
uation ofst udent s’set ups.
Somegr oupswer eabl et ol ocatesomef atalmi stakesr ai
sedout
fr
om t hei
rpeers.Howev er,thelimitati
onoft imemadepr esent ati
on
ofallpostersimpossi ble.Asanal ternati
ve,thet eacheraskedone
groupt opresentinfrontoft hewhol eclassasademonst rati
onand
al
lowt heothergroupst ocomment .

Afterthest udenti mplementedt heirexper i

ment s,t
heypr eparedaset
ofpost ersf ort heiroralpr
esentation.Thepr esent
ationsal l
owt hem
toexchangeexper i
enceandknowl edgewi ththeirpeers.Thepost ers
whichi ncludedexper i
mentalset up,r esult
sandconcl usionswer e
postedont hewal l
soft helaboratory.Student sineachgr oupwer e
divi
dedi ntopr esenter
sandaudi ence.Theyswappedt heirroleswhen
thepresent ationwentt oahal f
.Dur i
ngt hepr esentat
ionsessi on,the
audiencewal kedar oundandl i
stenedt opresentati
onsf r
om ot her
groups.Thi sar r
angemental l
owedal lgr oupst opr esentt osome
audienceatt hesamet ime.

Everystudentwasal sogivenwi ththem apeerassessmentf or

mt o
assess t he presentat
ions f r
om ot hergr oups.The assessment
categories i
nclude cont ents,or ganizati
on,uses of v isualai d,
l
anguageandi nter
acti
on.St udent salsopr epar
edsomequest i
ons
thattheywouldl i
ketoaskt hepr esentersinthepresent
ati
onsessi on.
These quest ions helped t o f aci
li
tatet he discussi
ons among
presentersandt heaudi encewhi chcoul dalsohelptheaudi enceto
assesst hei
rpeersmor eeasily.
Pictur
esofSt
udent
s’work
Belowshowssomepict
uresofst
udent
swor
kingont
hepr
oject
.

Chall
engesfacedbyt eacherandst udent
s
Somegr oupsofst udentscomeupwi thani deathatvel
oci
tyoft he
mov i
ngobjectmaybeaf act
oraf f
ecti
ngt hefri
cti
onalfor
ce.They
weretoldbythet eacherthatt
hisideainvolveski
neti
cfri
cti
onrather
thanstati
cf r
ict
ionwhi chthesituati
onismuchmor ecompl i
cated
andoutoft hescopeoft hi
sprojectandt heygaveupstudyingthis
fact
orfi
nall
y.

Forst udentswhost udyther el

ationshipbet weencont actar eaand
fr
icti
onalf orce,theynor mall
yproposedatt hebeginni ngthatt hesi ze
offrict
ionalf or
cei sdirect
lyproportionaltothecont actsur facear ea.
Agr oupofst udentsf oundoutf r
om t hei
rex per
imentt hatthesi zeof
fr
icti
on act ually does nothav e signifi
cantr el
ationship wi tht he
surface ar ea.I ti s neither directly proporti
onalnor i nversely
proportional,sot heyconcludedt hatt hereisinf actnor elati
onshi p
betweencont actareaofanobj ectandi tsfri
cti
onalf orce.Thi sisthe
onl
ygr oup t
hati
s brave enough t
o dr
aw a concl
usi
on t
hatno
rel
ati
onshi
pcanbefound.

THANKYOU