LABORATORY MANUAL

LABORATORY MANUAL

 

To study the relation between force of limiting friction and normal
reaction and to find the coefficient of friction between surface of a
moving block and that of a horizontal surface.


A wooden block with a hook, a horizontal plane with a glass or
laminated table top (the table top itself may be used as a horizontal
plane), a frictionless pulley which can be fixed at the edge of the
horizontal table/plane, spirit level, a scale, pan, thread or string, spring
balance, weight box and five masses of 100 g each.

 
Friction: The tendency to oppose the relative motion between two
surfaces in contact is called friction.
Static Friction: It is the frictional force acting between two solid
surfaces in contact at rest but having a tendency to move (slide) with
respect to each other.
Limiting Friction: It is the maximum value of force of static friction
when one body is at the verge of sliding with respect to the other body
in contact.
Kinetic (or Dynamic) Friction: It is the frictional force acting between
two solid surfaces in contact when they are in relative motion.

 
The maximum force of
static friction, i.e., limiting
friction, FL, between two
dry, clean and unlubricated
solid surfaces is found to
obey the following empirical
laws:
Fig. E 7.1: The body is at rest due to
(i) The limiting friction is static friction
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directly proportional to the normal reaction, R, which is given by

the total weight W of the body (Fig. E 7.1). The line of action is
same for both W and R for horizontal surface,
FL ∝ R ⇒ FL = µLR

FL
i.e. µL =
R

Thus, the ratio of the magnitude of the limiting friction, FL, to the
magnitude of the normal force, R, is a constant known as the
coefficient of limiting friction (µL) for the given pair of surfaces in
contact.
(ii) The limiting friction depends upon the nature of surfaces in contact
and is nearly independent of the surface area of contact over wide
limits so long as normal reaction remains constant.
Note that FL= µLR is
R = (M+p)g
an equation of a
straight line passing
through the origin.
Pulley
Thus, the slope of the F
straight-line graph Clear glass (or
between Fl (along Y- wood mica) top
axis) and R (along X-
axis) will give the (M+p)g q
value of coefficient of Pan
limiting friction µL.
(m+q)g
In this experiment,
the relationship Fig. E 7.2: Experimental set up to study limiting friction
between the limiting
friction and normal
reaction is studied for a wooden block. The wooden block is made
to slide over a horizontal surface (say glass or a laminated surface)
(Fig. E 7.2).



1. Find the range and least count of the spring balance.
2. Measure the mass (M) of the given wooden block with hooks on its
sides and the scale pan (m) with the help of the spring balance.
3. Place the glass (or a laminated sheet) on a table and make it
horizontal, if required, by inserting a few sheets of paper or
cardboard below it. To ensure that the table-top surface is
horizontal use a spirit level. Take care that the top surface must
be clean and dry.
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4. Fix a frictionless pulley on one edge of table-top as shown in Fig.

E 7.2. Lubricate the pulley if need be.
5. Tie one end of a string of suitable length (in accordance with the
size and the height of the table) to a scale pan and tie its other end
to the hook of the wooden block.
6. Place the wooden block on the horizontal plane and pass the string
over the pulley (Fig. E7.2). Ensure that the portion of the string
between pulley and the wooden block is horizontal. This can be
done by adjusting the height of the pulley to the level of hook of
block.
7. Put some mass (q) on the scale pan. Tap the table-top gently with
your finger. Check whether the wooden block starts moving.
8. Keep on increasing the mass (q) on the scale pan till the wooden
block just starts moving on gently tapping the glass top. Record
the total mass kept on the scale pan in Table E 7.1.
9. Place some known mass (say p ) on the top of wooden block and
adjust the mass (q′) on the scale pan so that the wooden block
alongwith mass p just begins to slide on gently tapping the table
top. Record the values of p′ and q′ in Table E 7.1.
10. Repeat step 9 for three or four more values of p and record the
corresponding values of q in Table E 7.1. A minimum of five
observations may be required for plotting a graph between FL and
R.



1. Range of spring balance = ... to ... g
2. Least count of spring balance = ... g
3. Mass of the scale pan, (m) = ... g
4. Mass of the wooden block (M) = ... g
5. Acceleration due to gravity (g) at the place of experiment= ... m/s2
Table E 7.1: Variation of Limiting Friction with Normal
S. Mass on the Normal Mass on Force of Coefficient Mean L
No. wooden block force R due the pan limiting of friction
(p) (g) to mass (q) g friction FL FL
(M+p) µL =
R
(g) (kg) N (g) (kg) (N)
1
2
3
4
5
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Reaction

 
Plot a graph between the limiting friction (FL) and
normal force (R) between the wooden block and the
horizontal surface, taking the limiting friction FL
along the y-axis and normal force R along the x-
axis. Draw a line to join all the points marked on it
(Fig. E 7.3). Some points may not lie on the straight-
line graph and may be on either side of it. Extend
the straight line backwards to check whether the
graph passes through the origin. The slope of this
straight-line graph gives the coefficient of limiting
friction (µL) between the wooden block and the
horizontal surface. To find the slope of straight line, Fig. E 7.3: Graph between force of
choose two points A and B that are far apart from limiting friction FL and
each other on the straight line as shown in Fig. E normal reaction, R
7.3. Draw a line parallel to x-axis through point A
and another line parallel to y-axis through point B.
Let point Z be the point of intersection of these two lines. Then, the
slope µL of straight line graph AB would be
FL BZ
µL = =
R AZ

 
The value of coefficient of limiting friction µL between surface of wooden
block and the table-top (laminated sheet/glass) is:
(i) From calculation (Table E 7.1) = ...
(ii) From graph = ...

 
1. Surface of the table should be horizontal and dust free.
2. Thread connecting wooden block and pulley should be horizontal.
3. Friction of the pulley should be reduced by proper oiling.
4. Table top should always be tapped gently.



1. Always put the mass at the centre of wooden block.
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2. Surface must be dust free and dry.

3. The thread must be unstretchable and unspun.



1. The friction depends on the roughness of the surfaces in contact.
If the surfaces in contact are ideally (perfactly) smooth, there
would be no friction between the two surfaces. However, there
cannot be an ideally smooth surface as the distribution of atoms
or molecules on solid surface results in an inherent roughness.

2. In this experimental set up and calculations, friction at the pulley

has been neglected, therefore, as far as possible, the pulley, should
have minimum friction as it cannot be frictionless.

3. The presence of dust particles between the wooden block and

horizontal plane surface may affect friction and therefore lead
to errors in observations. Therefore, the surface of the
horizontal plane and wooden block in contact must be clean
and dust free.

4. The presence of water or moisture between the wooden block

and the plane horizontal surface would change the nature of
the surface. Thus, while studying the friction between the surface
of the moving body and horizontal plane these must be kept
dry.

5. Elasticity of the string may cause some error in the observation.

Therefore, a thin, light, strong and unspun cotton thread must
be used as a string to join the scale pan and the moving block.

6. The portion of string between the pulley and wooden block must
be horizontal otherwise only a component of tension in the string
would act as the force to move the block.

7. It is important to make a judicious choice of the size of the block

and set of masses for this experiment. If the block is too light, its
force of limiting friction may be even less than the weight of empty
pan and in this situation, the observation cannot be taken with
the block alone. Similarly, the maximum mass on the block, which
can be obtained by putting separate masses on it, should not be
very large otherwise it would require a large force to make the
block move.

8. The additional mass, p, should always be put at the centre of

wooden block.

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9. The permissible error in measurements of coefficient of friction

∆ FL ∆R
= + = ...
FL R



1. On the basis of your observations, find the relation between
limiting friction and the mass of sliding body.
2. Why do we not choose a spherical body to study the limiting
friction between the two surfaces?
3. Why should the horizontal surfaces be clean and dry?
4. Why should the portion of thread between the moving body and
pulley be horizontal?
5. Why is it essential in this experiment to ensure that the surface
on which the block moves should be horizontal?
6. Comment on the statement: “The friction between two surfaces
can never be zero”.
7. In this experiment, usually unpolished surfaces are preferred,
why?
8. What do you understand by self-adjusting nature of force of
friction?
9. In an experiment to study the relation between force of limiting
friction and normal reaction, a body just starts sliding on applying
a force of 3 N. What will be the magnitude of force of friction
acting on the body when the applied forces on it are 0.5 N, 1.0 N,
2.5 N, 3.5 N, respectively.

SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL EXPERIMENTS/ACTIVITIES

1. To study the effect of the nature of sliding surface. [Hint: Repeat

the same experiment for different types of surfaces say, plywood,
carpet etc. Or repeat the experiment after putting oil or powder on
the surface.]

2. To study the effect of changing the area of the surfaces in contact.

[Hint: Place the wooden block vertically and repeat the experiment.
Discuss whether the readings and result of the experiment are same.]

3. To find the coefficient of limiting friction by sliding the block on an

inclined plane.

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