FRICTION LAB

Name Date Period

Objective: As a class, we’ve discussed, diagrammed and calculated different types of forces. To this point, we have yet
to discover how frictional forces can be calculated. The goal of this lab is to understand one relationship between
frictional force and normal force.

 What is the formula for FG (weight)?

Define the following three terms:

 FN-Normal Force:

 Ffk-Kinetic Friction:

 Ffs-Static Friction:

LAB

 GOOGLE: PHET FORCES AND MOTION BASICS

 (https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/forces-and-
motion-basics/latest/forces-and-motion-
basics_en.html)
 SELECT FRICTION

Part 1: KINETIC FRICTION

 CLICK FORCES, SUM OF FORCES, VALUES, and MASSES 

 For each mass listed in the chart below, push the object until it is moving fast then let go. The friction force by
the red arrow will be your kinetic friction value (your first object should be 94 N)
 Solve for the Force of Gravity (weight) for each mass
 See image below for an example.
 Object(s) Mass (kg) Force of Gravity (N) Normal Force (N) Kinetic Friction
Fg=m(9.8 m/s2) Cancels gravity in this Force (N)
situation so same value
as Fg
1 box

Man

Girl + 1 Box

Trash can

Man + 1 box

Box + trashcan

Man + trashcan

Refrigerator

IF THE OBJECT DOES NOT MOVE EVEN WITH 500 N of force, place an X through the data as it means we cannot measure the kinetic friction (not
moving) or find the static friction’s maximum value.

Open up the program graphical analysis and select MANUAL ENTRY (here is the link to download graphical analysis
again if you need it: https://www.vernier.com/product/graphical-analysis-4/)

 Title your X values FN with units N; our independent variable (X) will be Normal Force.
o This should be a positive number, and the same magnitude (size or number) as the Force of
Gravity
 Title your Y values Ffk with units N; our dependent variable (Y) will be the Kinetic Friction Force
o Ignore direction for this graph, all values should be positive values, we are plotting magnitudes.
 Title your graph Kinetic Friction vs. Normal Force
 Sketch the graph after adding your line of best fit
 Record the m (slope) and b (y-int) value

m=

b=

Write your equation including correct units and the plotted variables (don’t use x and y):
The slope here represents our coefficient of friction (µ) which you can think of as a measure of the stickiness
between two surfaces. It is a measure of the ratio of friction and normal force. The subscript ‘k’ next to the µ indicates
we are talking about kinetic friction’s coefficient, and an object that is in motion. The formula from the graph is:

Ffk = µk(FN)

Kinetic Friction = coefficient of kinetic friction x Normal Force

Your slope (m value) in the graph is the coefficient. Write it down µk=

1. Using your coefficient from the graph (slope), multiply it by the normal force for the box (490 N). What do you
get?

2. Does your answer above come out to be about 94N?

3. If your coefficient (µ) were 0.25 and the Normal Force were 400 N, what would be the Friction force?

Part 2: STATIC FRICTION

 CLICK FORCES, SUM OF FORCES, VALUES, and MASSES

 For each mass in the chart, slide the slider SLOWLY until the mass just starts to move and record the magnitude
of the applied force that JUST gets the box to move.
o your first object should be between 130 N and 140 N
 This pushing force at the moment the mass starts to move, balances out the maximum static force, as such we
can use that force as our static force.
 Solve for the Force of Gravity (weight) for each mass.
 NOTE: Since we are attempting to apply a force slowly until we notice motion, we will have error in this
experiment. Your graph will have data points slightly off the linear fit line.

Object(s) Mass (kg) Force of Gravity (N) Normal Force (N) Kinetic Friction
Fg=m(9.8 m/s2) Cancels gravity in this Force (N)
situation so same value
as Fg
1 box

Man

Girl + 1 Box

Trash can

Man + 1 box

Box + trashcan

Man + trashcan

Refrigerator
 IF THE OBJECT DOES NOT MOVE EVEN WITH 500 N of force, place an X through the data as it means we cannot measure the kinetic friction (not
moving) or find the static friction’s maximum value.

Open up the program GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS and select MANUAL ENTRY

 Title your X values FN with units N, our independent variable (X) will be Normal Force.
o This should be a positive number, and the same magnitude (size or number) as the Force of
Gravity
 Title your Y values Ffs with units N, our dependent variable (Y) will be the Static Friction Force
o Ignore direction for this graph, all values should be positive values.
 Title your graph Kinetic Friction vs. Normal Force
 Sketch the graph after adding your line of best fit
 Record the m (slope) and b (y-int) value

m=

b=

Write your equation including correct units and the plotted variables (don’t use x and y):

The slope here represents our coefficient of friction (µ) which you can think of as a measure of the stickiness
between two surfaces. It is a measure of the ratio of friction and normal force. The subscript ‘s’ next to the µ indicates
we are talking about static friction and an object not in motion. We can specify it as the formula below.

Ffs = µs(FN)

Static Friction = coefficient of static friction x Normal Force

Your slope (m value) in the graph is the coefficient. Write it down µs=

1. Using your coefficient from the graph (slope), multiply it by the normal force for the box (490 N). What do you
get?

2. Does your answer above come out to be in the 130 N to 140 N range?

3. If your coefficient (µ) were 0.45 and the Normal Force were 400 N, what would be the Friction force?
Questions:

1. Write your coefficient (µ) from each friction.

Coefficient for STATIC (first graph):

Coefficient for KINETIC (second graph):

2. Both coefficients were decimals, however which force had the coefficient with the larger value?

3. The same objects were used in both situations. Compare the static friction forces to kinetic friction in the data
tables. What frictional force was always larger?

4. What will always be more difficult, to start moving an object that is still with static friction, or to keep moving an
object that is already moving that has kinetic friction?

We can rewrite our two variations of the friction equation to be:

Ff = µFN
Friction Force = Coefficient of Friction x Normal Force

Remember, if it is NOT MOVING, it is a static force and we must use the static coefficient (µ s)

Remember, if it is MOVING, it is a kinetic force and we must use the kinetic coefficient (µ k)

If we have a situation that just states friction and does not define the type of friction or state
of motion, we can use the generic version shown above.