Physics 71.1 Experiment No.

4: Friction
(Static and Kinetic Friction and Coefficients, µs , µk )
General instructions for the on-line laboratory
1. Open your browser and go to Google Search. Type amrita.olabs.edu.in. Alternatively, click
on this link: Amrita Online Labs. Your browser screen should show the head mast of the
Amrita main website as shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Head mast of the main website of Amrita.

2. Do not log on to the website. Instead, click on the Physics button as shown in Figure
2 below:

Figure 2: Click Physics to choose physics experiments.

3. Find experiments under Class 11 and click
on the Friction icon for Experiment 4. In
Figure 3, the icon for Experiment 4 is shown
on the lower left portion of the figure en-
closed in a red box with a red arrow point-
ing to it.

Figure 3: Friction experiment

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4. Clicking on the icon as described in Figure 3 brings up the screen as shown in Figure 4.
Note that the top portion of the page consists of a horizontal list of tabbed icons with the
left-most tab marked Theory already chosen by default. You can browse and scroll around
this page to familiarize yourself with what the experiment is all about.

Figure 4: The Theory page of Experiment 4.

5. Clicking on the Procedure tab ( ) in Figure 4 opens up a screenful of text enu-

merating the actual materials needed to conduct a real lab experiment on friction. It even
includes a detailed physical procedure of how to go about conducting the experiment, a brief
rundown of steps for using the friction simulator and a data table for filling in. Although
you may browse through these material, we will not be performing the physical ex-
periment described here. Instead, we will do the simulated experiment which will be
discussed in more detail in the next section.
6. Figure 5 summarizes the steps to be taken for this experiment. Note that most of the action
takes place within the last two steps of this summary.

Figure 5: Summary of general instructions.

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Experiment 4: Friction (Online version)

Name: Date Performed:

Year & Section: Date Submitted:

Objective:
1. To study the relationship between the force of limiting friction, (fs )max and the normal
reactive force, N .
2. To determine experimentally the coefficient of static friction (µs ) between different materials
in physical contact.

Theory:
When one body makes an attempt to slide over another body, an opposing force called friction
arises as a reaction to the applied force and acts in the opposite direction.
Static friction is the type of friction that exists when two objects touch each other at rest.
It has a maximum value called limiting friction, (fs )max , which is equal to the least amount
of applied force required to move the body from rest. When the external force F is increased,
there comes a point at which the body is just on the verge of moving. At this stage, the force
of friction is at its maximum, and is thus called limiting friction.
It has been experimentally verified that
when a block of weight W is placed on a level
surface so that the normal force N of the sur-
face on the block is equal to the block’s weight,
frictional force (f )

the limiting frictional force is a simple linear

(fs )max = µs N
function of the normal reactive force: Kinetic friction
fk = µk N
(fs )max = µs N = µs W = µs M g (1)
n
io

where M is the block’s mass and g is the

ct
fri

local acceleration due to gravity. When the

ic
at
St

applied force F is increased further (beyond F

the limiting frictional force), the body begins
to move and the force opposing this motion
O F Applied force (F )
is now called kinetic or sliding friction, fk .
Kinetic friction is less than limiting friction. Figure 6: How f varies with F .
This is shown in Figure 6. Note that when
the applied force F is below the limiting frictional force (fs )max , the opposing static friction
fs equals the applied force F as both forces increase in unison. The constant µs in equation
(1) is called the coefficient of static friction and is a function of the type of materials that are
in physical contact. When both surfaces are sliding with respect to one another, the opposing
frictional force is now kinetic and its relationship to N is similar to equation (1) above:

f k = µk N = µk W = µk M g (2)

As can be seen in Figure 6, since kinetic friction fk is less than limiting friction (fs )max , it also
follows that
µk < µ s (3)

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Procedure for Simulated Experiment:
1. While the top of your screen is as shown on Figure 4, click on the tab labeled Simulator,
to bring up the friction simulator as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Opening screen of the Friction Simulator.

Figure 8 zooms in on the left panel which shows the
parameters that can be changed during the experiment.
There are three choices for the material of the block, i.e.
wood, steel and glass. For each type of material one
chooses for the block, there are three other different materi-
als one can choose for the table surface. For example, if one
chooses wood as the block material, the choices available
for the table surface are wood, steel and brick. However,
if steel is chosen as the block material, the available table
surfaces are steel, cast iron and brass.
One can vary the block’s weight (and hence the nor-
mal force N ) from 1000 g to 3000 g. Changing the hanging
weight value is equivalent to changing the applied force
F acting horizontally on the block. F can be varied from
300 g to 3000 g. Note that the simulator only allows chang-
ing the values of both weights in increments of 100 g.
The Show result checkbox is clicked to show values of
(fs )max , N and µs at the end of a typical simulation run.
The Reset button is clicked to change all the parameters
back to their default values before the start of a new sim- Figure 8: Left panel controls.
ulation run. Note that the default material for both the
block and the table surface is wood. The default initial block weight is 1000 g and the
starting value of the hanging weight is 300 g.

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2. For the first simulation run, take the start-
ing default values for the left panel parame-
ters. Note that the default material for both
the block and the table surface is wood.
The default initial block weight is 1000 g
and the starting value of the hanging weight
is 300 g.
To start the simulation, move the mouse
pointer to the Hanging weight slider and click
on it. The slider button will momentarily turn
blue when it is clicked and will turn back to
gray when the mouse button is released. At this
point, the slider is activated. This is shown in Figure 9: Set weight values.
Figure 9. Then, gradually increase the hanging
weight value in 100 g-increments by pressing on the right-arrow key, →. This will increase
the hanging weight value to 400 g, a blue line sloping upward appears on the graph and an
additional weight appears on the hanger. Another press on the right-arrow key increases
the hanging weight to 500 g. At this point, the limiting friction is reached, sliding friction
takes over and the block slides the the right until it hits the stop as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Results of the first simulation run.

3. To get the results of the first simulation, click on the Show result checkbox and scroll down
the left panel by dragging down the vertical scroll bar that appears on the right side of the
control panel. Note the final values of the limiting friction (fs )max , the normal reaction N
and the resulting value of the coefficient of static friction µs . Your screen should be similar
to that shown in Figure 10. Take a screenshot of the final screen as part of your lab result
and record the values of the parameters in the first row of Table 1.

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 Trial Normal Force Limiting friction Friction Coefficient
# N , g wt (fs )max , g wt µs = (fs )max /N
1

Table 1: Data for wooden block on wooden table.

4. Fill in the rest of Table 1 by clicking on the Reset button of the simulator and repeating
steps 1–3 for block weight values (N ) of 2000 g and 3000 g. Be sure to take screen shots of
the final results for both runs. In your lab report note down any similarities or differences
in the final screen shots of the simulations.
5. Generate new data (screenshots and tables) for additional simulations pairing the wooden
block with two other surfaces, i.e. steel and brick. Repeat steps 1–4 for both wooden block
on steel table and wooden block on brick table.
6. Repeat steps 1–5 for the two other materials for the block, i.e. steel and glass. Note that
for a block made of steel, the available table surfaces are steel, cast iron and brass. Note
also that for a block made of glass, the available table surfaces are glass, steel and nickel.

Observations and Conclusion

Write your observations, recommendations and conclusion based on your own experience in
performing the experiment.