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Friction Writeup PDF
Friction Writeup PDF
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FRICTION
Topic: Friction
Objectives:
• To determine the relationship between friction force and normal force.
• To measure the coefficient of kinetic friction between two surfaces
• To measure the coefficient of static friction between two surfaces
• To estimate the reliability of a measurement from repeated trials
Overview:
In this lab you will investigate friction. In the first investigation, you will get a “feel” for friction and
make some preliminary measurements and predictions. In the second investigation, you will
investigate the numerical relationship between friction force and normal force. Since you can’t
measure friction force or normal force directly, you will measure each of these quantities indirectly.
There are several educational purposes for this lab. The most obvious purpose is to give you some
intuitive sense about the relationship between friction force and normal force. Another is to get
some practice applying Newton’s laws. Another, far less obvious, educational goal is acquaint you
with some of the issues involved in developing/testing ideas about the world. Throughout this lab,
you will critically examine what claims can be substantiated by the experimental evidence you collect.
Safety/Equipment Notes:
Be careful when handling heavy weights: The masses you will be handling can be as large as
a few kilograms. Dropping these masses can damage toes, equipment, etc.
Strong pushes and pulls may damage the force probes. The probes are rated for a
maximum of 50 N.
Writing it up:
In this handout, you will be asked to perform calculations, analyze graphs and answer questions. It is
strongly recommended that you do all the calculations and answer all the questions as you go through
the experiment. This record is for your purposes only. You will not be graded on it. You will be graded
on how well you understand the material covered in this lab, so you should do the entire activity,
discuss the questions with your partners and take careful notes.
+2
force (N)
-2 1 2 3 4 5
time (s)
Prediction 1-1: Suppose you doubled the amount of mass in the container. How would the force-
time graph change? Explain the basis for your prediction.
Q1-2: Is it important to pull the container in the horizontal direction (rather than at an
angle)? Explain, using a force diagram.
Q1-3: Is it important to pull the cart at the same constant speed each time you do the
experiment? Explain.
Q1-4: Does the force probe always read zero when there is nothing pulling on it?
1. Fill the container about half full with masses and repeat the measurements you took in the
previous section using the appropriate precautions you determined above. Don’t forget to
zero the force probe!
2. Repeat the measurement at least four more times with the same mass, re-zeroing the probe each
time. Doing the measurement several times allows you to estimate how consistent your
measurements are and to calculate an average.
Record the total mass of container and masses: ____________
Trial 1 2 3 4 5 Ave. Spread
Max force probe
reading during no
motion (N)
Probe reading
during constant
velocity (N)
3. Calculate the average values and estimate the spread in the data. Place the results in the table
above.
Q1-5: Suppose you did the same measurements again. What ranges do you think the next
measurement for the max probe reading would likely fall within? the constant speed
probe reading?
Q1-6: Does one set of measurements (static or kinetic) seem more reliable than the other?
If so, which one?
4. Use the values from the table above to get your best estimate of the values of µ s and µ k . Also
estimate how close you might expect another group would get to these values if they used your
procedure.
5. Check your predictions. Repeat the basic measurement for several different values of normal
force. Try to use as wide a range of normal forces as possible. You only need to get one good
trial for each value of normal force. Record the results in the table below.
Mass of Max force probe
Probe reading during
container and reading during no
constant velocity (N)
contents (kg) motion (N)
6. Make a graph to test your prediction. Do the data support your prediction?
Investigation 3: How do different surfaces compare?
Find a group that has a container with a different surface on the bottom than your container than
yours. Record their data here:
+2
force (N)
-2 1 2 3 4 5
time (s)
1. Compare their data with your own. How is it similar? How is different? Is this what you
might expect, given the difference in the types of surfaces? Explain.