PRASUN GHOSH

BOX NUMBER - 42
Introduction : The experiments objectives are to study the concept of
friction by measuring the frictional forces(static and kinetic) by different
methods(motion on a track and motion down an incline). Friction is a
resisting force that acts along the tangent to two surfaces in contact when
one body slides or attempts to slide across another. The friction coefficient
() between two solid surfaces is defined as the ratio of the tangential force
(F) required to producing sliding divided by the normal force between the
surfaces (N) = F /N
There are two different kinds of friction. Static friction (Fs) occurs when two
surfaces are still at rest with respect to each other, but an attempt is being
made to cause one of them to slide over the other one. The static frictional
force Fs is given by Fs sN. The other kind of friction occurs when two
surface are moving with respect to each other. It is called kinetic friction, and
it is characterised by a constant k called the coefficient of kinetic friction.
The kinetic frictional force Fk is given by Fk = kN. The frictional force is
basically found to depend on two things. 1)The nature of the material in
contact 2)The amount of force pressing the surfaces together. Other
important characteristics of friction are that friction is practically
independent of the area in contact and friction always acts parallel to the
surfaces in contact. One more thing that should be noted is unlike Newtons
Forces, Frictional forces are not considered to be fundamental .

PRASUN GHOSH
Procedure :
Materials Required :Motorized cart, Blocks of different areas, Force Probe,
Masses of different weights, Inclined plane, Flat surfaces(track),Inclinometer
Measuring Kinetic Friction :
1st Law :
1)Place the force sensor upside down on the block
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2) Measure the mass of the block of wood on the balance beam.

3) Using the relationship Fw = mg determine the weight of the block of

wood. Record this weight.

4) Attach a string from the block to the Motorized cart. Measure this
force and record.

5) Add a different mass to the block of wood and repeat each step.
6) Repeat this step for each of the other masses. To simplify matters,
we chose masses so that the system moved at constant speed so that the
acceleration is zero.
7) Since the sum of all forces is equal to zero, then the sum of all the xforces should be zero, and the sum of all y-forces should be zero. The
applied force must be equal in
magnitude to the frictional force, and the
normal force must be equal in magnitude to
the weight.
8)Next plot a graph of Force of Friction vs Normal Force for the
Surface of the wooden block.

9) Use the applied force as the frictional force and weight as the

normal force.
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10) Determine a best fit line to fit the data points.

11)Determine the slope of the best fit line.

12)Since the relationship Ff = FN fits the slope formula y = mx, the

slope m that is calculated will be equal to the coefficient of friction

2nd Law:

1)Same steps as for 1st Law except repeat the experiment with variably
sized PVC plastic blocks.

2)Make several trials with each block and average these results
to obtain the force of friction. The masses are equalized for each trial as the
blocks are of different masses by adding mass from the mass kit.

3)The standard deviation is measured and is checked to quantify the

degree to which frictional forces remain constant.

Static Friction:

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1st Law:
1) Same as the 1st law of kinetic friction except that a spring is
attached between the hand and the force sensor. The peak force just before
the block moves and a lower force after the block moves is noted. The peak
is recorded as the maximum value of static friction. The remaining steps are
same as that of 1st Law of Kinetic Friction
2nd Law:
2)We placed the block or other material on the wood plank while the
plank was horizontal. We then slowly lifted one end of the plank until the
block began to slide from rest.
3)From the components of its weight parallel and perpendicular to the
incline the coefficient of static friction was found as : s = f/N =
Mgsin/Mgcos = tan

4)We then fixed the plank in place and measured its critical angle with
an inclinometer.
5)Trials with variably sized PVC plastic blocks were measured and the
standard deviation for each trial was noted and was quantified to the degree
to which the force of static friction remains constant.

Reactor Quiz:
What is pair-production and annihilation?
A) Pair production is the creation of an elementary particle and its
antiparticle , for example creating an electron and positron, a muon
and anti-muon, or a proton and antiproton.Pair production often refers
specifically to a photon creating an electron-positron pair near a
nucleus but can more generally refer to any neutral boson creating a
particle-antiparticle pair. In order for pair production to occur, the
incoming energy of the interaction must be above a threshold in order
to create the pair at least the total rest mass energy of the two
particles and that the situation allows both energy and momentum to
be conserved.
B) Annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle
collides with its respective antiparticle, such as an electron colliding with
a positron. Energy and momentum are conserved, and the annihilated
particles are replaced by photons, electromagnetic wave quanta with zero
rest mass. Antiparticles have exactly opposite additive quantum numbers
from particles, so the sums of all quantum numbers of the original pair are
zero.

Q) Give an example of particle and its anti-particle

A) the positron is the antiparticle of the electron

B) the antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton
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Q) Describe Compton Scattering.

A) Compton scattering, is the inelastic scattering of a photon by a charged particle,

usually an electron. It results in a decrease in energy (increase in wavelength) of the
photon (which may be an X ray or Gamma Ray photon), called the Compton effect.
Part of the energy of the photon is transferred to the recoiling electron.

Q ) What does attenuation mean?

A) The process by which energy of a beam of radiation is reduced after

passing through a material is referred to as attenuation.

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Q) What is your favorite part of the reactor program?

A) My favorite part of the reactor program was using the contamination

meter to check for possible sources of radiation in the facility.
Q)IhaveaveryactiveK40source,whichisabetaemitter.CanIshielditwithlead?
Explain.
A) Materials with high atomic numbers, such as lead and bismuth should not
be used to shield betas. In addition to the dangers due to bremsstrahlung,
using these materials also increases the probability of electrons being
reflected back by the material instead of being absorbed. This phenomenon
is also known as backscattering.
a)Onceuponatime,someonetriedtobuildaneutronshieldoutofboronandlead.The
shieldfailedanddestroyedanexpensiveNaIdetector.Whydidnttheshieldwork?
A)AswecanseethattheneutronshieldconsistsofanabsorberBoronandaGammaShield
madeofLead.However,thereisnopresenceofamoderatortoslowdownthefastmoving
neutronstobeabsorbedbytheabsorber.Thelackofaneffectivemoderatordoesnotallowthe
absorbertooperatetoitsfullpotentialandhencetheNaIdetectorgetsdestroyed.