Christina Wells

Lab #1

@2:40

Learning objectives: To increase understanding of friction. To increase understanding of the conditions for static
equilibrium of forces. To understand vector resolution of forces and vector composition of forces. To be able
to resolve and add forces using trigonometric techniques.

Equipment:
bathroom scale spring scales 3 - 10 lb weight plates
shoe with hook carpet squares

Activities – The lab will be divided into 4 groups of 2-3 students. Each group will rotate from one activity to
the next starting on Activity II, III, IV, or V. Activity I will be done first at the initial activity station.
Each group will have one bathroom scale. Only one student should hold the scale. This student will do
Activities II and III.

I. Static equilibrium. Everyone does this.

Stand still on the bathroom scale. Record your weight in pounds:145.
Now, keep standing still and push down as hard as you can against the scale and determine the maximum
reading that you can maintain on the scale for 2 seconds without moving or touching anything but the
scale.
Record the scale reading in pounds: 145.

II. Friction (One person in each group will do this - the same person who did or will do Activity III)
Hold the scale against the wall. While standing on the floor, push horizontally as hard as you can against the
scale without moving. Try to push against the scale in the horizontal direction only. Enter the normal
reaction force (your weight) and the limiting friction force (the highest scale reading you can maintain for 2
seconds) in the table below. Now flip over one of the carpet squares (so the carpet side is against the floor) and
step on it. Repeat the experiment while standing on the upside down carpet square.

Condition Normal Reaction Force, R, (lbs) Limiting Friction Force, Fs, (lbs)
(your wt.) (the scale reading)

1. floor 145 40
2. carpet 145 30

III. More friction (One person in each group will do this - the same person who did or will do Activity II)
Place the bottom of the scale against one of the upright posts of the chin up bar so that the scale dial faces
away from you and the post is between you and the scale. Hold the scale with both hands with your fingers
on the top of the scale (the side of the scale that you that you normally stand on). Another student from
your group should stand on the chin up bar platform at the other upright post while you slowly pull as hard
as you can on the scale in the horizontal direction. Be sure that your feet only touch the floor and do not
touch the chin up bar platform. The student on the chin up bar platform will read the maximum scale
reading that you can maintain for 2 seconds. This value is entered as the friction force in the table below.
Repeat the above experiment while standing on an upside down carpet square. Be sure that the carpet
square does not touch the chin up bar platform.

Condition Normal Reaction Force, R, (lbs) Limiting Friction Force, Fs, (lbs)
 (your wt.) (the scale reading)

1. floor 145 45
2. carpet 145 35

After completing Activities I, II, III, & IV spray the bathroom scale (or the spring scale)
with disinfectant and leave it on for 10 minutes before wiping it off.

IV. Even more friction

Use the spring scale and weight plates to complete the chart below and determine the coefficient of limiting
friction between the Reebok tennis shoe and the dry tile floor.

Normal Reaction Force, R Limiting Friction Force, Fs Coefficient of

LimitingFriction
(in lbs. from weight on shoe) (in lbs. from spring scale)
m=
10 pounds -4 .4

20 pounds 8 .4

30 pounds 11 .36

V. Force composition and resolution with the force plate

Walk across the force plate so that only one foot steps on the force plate. The force plate will record the ground
reaction forces that act on your foot. These include the vertical reaction force (the normal contact force, R) and the
anterior-posterior force (static friction, Fs). For a typical walking stride, these forces are plotted below. Enter the
values of the peak braking and propusive forces for your step along with the vertical reaction forces that correspond
to these in the table below.

----anterior-posterior force (friction)vertical force (normal contact force)

peak propulsive force

peak braking force

 Ant-Post Force (Fs in N) Vertical Force (R in N)
Instant of peak braking force 88.9 700.6
Instant of peak propulsive 82 700.6
force

Questions (if calculations are involved, show your work):

ACTIVITY I

1. In Activity I, why couldn’t you push down on the scale with a force greater than your weight? Because of
gravity holding you down. You need to exert more force downward against gravity and that is not possible
without outside help. (Grabbing onto something for leverage.)

2. Is it possible to a exert a force larger than your weight downward on the scale if you aren't allowed to touch
anything other than the scale but you are allowed to move? Why or why not? No it is not possible.

No, you cannot because there is nothing to push off of, enabling you more force. Your body exerts the same from
that is equal to your weight.

ACTIVITY II & III

3. (a) Draw a free-body diagram of your subject pushing the scale on the wall in Activity II. Be sure to
label the forces.

(b) Draw a free-body diagram of your subject pulling against the scale in Activity III. Be sure to label the forces.

4. What is your best estimate for the value of the coefficient of limiting friction between your subject’s shoes and
the floor based on the data collected in Activities II and III? Show your work.

5. What is your best estimate for the value of the coefficient of limiting friction between the carpet square and the
floor based on the data collected in Activities II and III? Show your work.

6. Most heavier subjects were able to create a larger frictional force and thus push (or pull) with a larger force in
Activities II and III than lighter subjects. Why? It is because the force that is put on an object is matched by
an equal but opposite force. The force accelerates an object, so the heavier the object the greater the force, that
holds true for, if the object is lighter.

7. When subjects stood on the upside-down carpet square in Activities II and III, most subjects were not able to
exert the same force against the scale as they did when standing directly on the floor. Why? The same force
was not possible because there was less traction with the carpet, enabling less force.

ACTIVITY IV

8. In Activity IV, what is your best estimate for the value of the coefficient of limiting friction between the
Reebok tennis shoe and the lab floor?
9. If you were in a tug of war in the lab, and you and your 300 pound opponent both wore Reebok tennis shoes,
what is the largest horizontal force you would be able to exert on the rope before you began sliding on the
floor? (Use pounds as units of force in your answer.)

10. If the frictional force between your 300 pound opponent's shoes and the floor was zero, how much force
would you have to pull on the rope to accelerate him? (Use pounds as units of force in your answer.)

11. In a tug-of-war competition, why is the weight of a team an important determinant of its success? The more
weight the greater the force.

ACTIVITY V

12. What is the resultant ground reaction force acting on the foot at the instant of peak braking, i.e., what is the
vector sum of the peak braking force and the vertical reaction force at the instant of peak braking? (see
Activity V). What is the direction of this resultant ground reaction force (at what angle from horizontal does
this force act)?

13. What is the resultant ground reaction force acting on the foot at the instant of peak propulsion, i.e., what is the
vector sum of the peak propulsive force and the vertical reaction force at the instant of peak propulsion? (see
Activity V). What is the direction of this resultant ground reaction force (at what angle from horizontal does
this force act)?

Important terms and equations:

external force ∑F = net force = resultant force = sum of forces

∑F = 0 in static equilibrium W = weight

F = msR

Fs = static friction force ms = coefficient of static friction R = normal reaction force

Fd = md R

Fd = dynamic friction force md = coefficient of dynamic friction R = normal reaction force

free body diagram force componentsresolution of forces