APPLY PRINCIPLES OF FRICTION

Terms and concepts

• Kinetic energy: The energy possessed by an object because of its motion, equal to one
half the mass of the body times the square of its velocity.
• Friction: The force that resists relative motion between two surfaces sliding across each
other. Friction converts kinetic energy into heat.
• Drag force: The force that resists motion of an object traveling through a fluid such as air
or water. Drag force is proportional to the velocity of the object traveling.
• Deformation forces: Are forces caused by stretching or compressing a material. Some
examples would be springs or elastics.
• Viscosity: It is the measure of the resistance of the air to flow and it differs from one
density another.

TYPES OF FRICTION
Friction is defined as the resistance offered by the surfaces that are in contact with each other
when they move over each other.
Friction works in the opposite direction in which the body is moving making the body slows
down. Friction is useful in most of the cases.
Friction is also dependent on external factors. Different types of motion of the object give rise to
different types of friction.
Generally, there are 4 types of friction.

1. Static Friction
Static friction exists between a stationary object and the surface on which it is resting. It prevents
an object from moving against the surface.

Example:
Static friction prevents an object like a book from falling of the desk, even if the desk is slightly
tilted. It helps us pick up an object without it slipping through our fingers.
When we want to move an object first we must overcome the static friction acting between the
object and the surface on which the object is resting.

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 Fig 1.4: Static force

Static friction causes these two surfaces to stick together slightly, making that first push a
bugger.

Examples of static friction include:

• Book resting on your end table

• Plant resting on a counter

2. Sliding Friction
Sliding friction occurs between objects as they slide against each other.
When sliding friction is acting there must be another force existing to keep the body moving.

Example:
When a man is pushing an object on a rough surface the force acting is called "sliding friction".

Several factors can affect sliding friction including the flatness and roughness of the surface, size
of the object, and speed.

Examples of sliding friction include:

• Puck moving across the ice in hockey

• Kicking a book across a floor
• Dragging a sled up a hill
• Writing your name on paper
• Pushing a chair across the floor

3. Rolling Friction
Rolling friction is the resistive force that slows down the motion of a rolling ball or wheel. It is
also called rolling resistance.
When a force or torque is applied to a stationary wheel, there is a small static rolling friction
force holding back the rolling motion. However, resistance from static sliding friction is what
really causes the wheel to start rolling.
Rolling friction hinders the motion of an object rolling on a surface, that means it slows down the
motion of an object rolling on a surface.

Examples:
It slows down a ball rolling on a surface and it slows down the motion of tire rolling on the
surface.
Like sliding friction here also another force is required to keep the object in motion, in case of
pedaling bicycle the bicyclist provides the force which is required for the bicycle to be in motion.

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 Fig 1.4: A ball rolling on a surface

To define it, rolling friction is resistance happening between moving surfaces when one rolls.
This concept has several examples:
• Throwing a Skee-Ball
• Rollerblading down the street

4. Fluid Friction
When you hear fluid friction, friction in water might come to mind. However, fluid friction isn’t
just water or what you might consider “fluid” like coffee or tea.
Fluid means something without a clear shape such as gas and liquid. For example, gases and
honey are also subject to fluid friction.

Now that fluid is all cleared up, it’s time to look at fluid friction. In simple terms, fluid friction is
the resistance occurring when something tries to move on or through the gas or liquid. It has two
types, external and internal friction.
• External friction is the friction force when solid moves through it.
• Internal friction is the friction of the molecules themselves in the fluid.

Explore a few examples to see fluid friction in action.

• Air pushing against your hand when you stick it out the window of a car (external)

LAWS OF FRICTION

To stop an object in motion, a force must act on it in the opposite direction of motion. The
force that opposes the motion of the object is called the frictional force.
The following are the laws of friction:

1. Friction depends on the hardness or roughness of the contacting surfaces. Fluid friction
depends on the viscosity (the thickness) of the fluid.
2. Friction is directly proportion to the normal force pressing the contacting forces together.
3. Friction does not depend on the area of the contacting surfaces.

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 4. In the case of sliding, friction is reduced at very high relative speeds. However, in the
case of fluid friction, friction increases with increase in relative speed of movement.
5. The sliding friction is usually less than the starting friction.

CAUSES OF FRICTION
Friction is a force that resists the relative motion between two objects or materials. The causes of
this resistive force are molecular adhesion, surface roughness, and deformations.

1. Molecular adhesion
Friction can be caused by molecular adhesion or attraction. Ultra-smooth materials and "sticky"
materials fall in this category.

Ultra-smooth
If both surfaces are ultra-smooth and flat, the friction from surface roughness becomes
negligible, but then friction from molecular attraction comes into play. This can often become
greater than friction if the surfaces where relatively rough.

Sticky materials
Rubber is an example of a material that can have friction caused by molecular attraction.
Discounting resistance due to deformations with rubber, it is its stickiness factor that causes it to
grip so well and have so much friction.

Fluids
Fluids often exhibit molecular adhesion, increasing the friction. This adhesion force is often seen
in the capillary effect. This is where water will be pulled up a glass tube by the forces of
molecular adhesion. That same force can slow down fluid motion.

One example is how a coin will easily slide down a ramp. But if you wet the coin, it will stay in
place. That is because of the molecular friction of the fluid on the hard surfaces.
The motion of two fluids or two sections of a fluid against each other is also slowed down by the
molecular attraction factor.

2. Surface roughness
Most friction results because the surfaces of materials being rubbed together are not completely
smooth. Of course, the rougher the surface, the more the friction.
But surface roughness is a factor when the materials are rough enough to cause serious abrasion.
This is called the sandpaper effect.

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 3. Deformations
Soft materials will deform when under pressure. This also increased the resistance to motion. For
example, when you stand on a rug, you sink in slightly, which causes resistance when you try to
drag your feet along the rug's surface.
Another example is how rubber tires flatten out at the area on contact with the road.
When materials deform, you must "plow" through to move, thus creating a resistive force.
When the deformation becomes large, such that one object sinks into the other, streamlining can
affect the friction, similar to what happens in fluid friction.
When one or both of the materials is relatively soft, much of the resistance to movement is
caused by deformations of the objects or by a plowing effect.

In conclusion:
Friction is a force resisting motion of an object when in contact with another. It is caused by the
surface roughness of the contact area of the materials, deformations or the molecular attraction.
The standard friction equation holds for hard objects being held back by surface roughness.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FRICTION

Advantages of friction:
• Friction enables us to walk freely.
• It helps to support ladder against wall.
• It becomes possible to transfer one form of energy to another.
• Objects can be piled up without slipping.
• Breaks of vehicles work due to friction.
• Friction is responsible for many types of motion
• We can write on objects due to friction between the paper and the pencil. The friction
causes few atoms from the graphite to break and stick onto the paper.
• We can sharpen objects. The friction between two sliding objects allows us to grind or
sharpen objects
• Asteroids entering Earth’s surface are burned due to the friction with the Earth’s
atmosphere.

Disadvantages of friction:
• It always resists the motion, so extra energy is required to overcome it.
• It causes wear and tear of machines.
• It decreases the life expectancy of moving parts of vehicles.
• Friction produces unnecessary heat leading to the wastage of energy.
• The force of friction acts in the opposite direction of motion, so friction slows down the
motion of moving objects.
• Forest fires are caused due to the friction between tree branches.

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 • It is difficult to clean surfaces. The friction between the dust particles and surfaces can be
very strong in some cases. It requires special cleaning liquids to clean such surfaces.
• Friction reduces speed. That is why maglev trains are designed with an elevated concept
to reduce friction. You can read this article on how to reduce friction.
• Due to friction, noise is also produced in machines.

Methods of reducing friction

There are a number of methods to reduce friction:
• Use of lubricants: the parts of machines which are moving over one another must be
properly lubricated by using oils and lubricants of suitable viscosity.
• Use of grease: proper greasing between the sliding parts of machine reduces the friction.
• Use of ball bearing: in machines where possible, sliding friction can be replaced by
rolling friction by using ball bearings.
• Design modification: friction can be reduced by changing the design of fast-moving
objects. The front of vehicles and airplanes made oblong to minimize friction.

Application of friction
• Friction finds application when matchsticks are ignited.
• Motion of pistons in a cylinder is an application of friction.
• It is possible to write on books and board as there is friction between pen and the board.
• Friction allows the brakes in a car to dissipate your kinetic energy
• String instruments use friction to grip the strings with the bow
• Friction allows you to hold onto objects without dropping them.
• Clamps use friction to hold other objects together.

Measuring frictional forces

We can relate weight of bodies in contact and the force between them. This
relationship is called coefficient of friction.
Coefficient of friction as the ratio of the force needed to overcome friction Ff to
the perpendicular force between the surfaces Fn.
Hence µ = Ff / Fn

Examples
1. A box of mass 50 kg is dragged on a horizontal floor by means of a rope tied to
its front. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the floor and the box is 0.30,
what is the force required to move the box at uniform speed?

Solution

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Ff = µFn
Fn= weight = 50×10 = 500 N
Ff = 0.30 × 500 = 150 N

2. A block of metal with a mass of 20 kg requires a horizontal force of 50 N to pull

it with uniform velocity along a horizontal surface. Calculate the coefficient of
friction between the surface and the block. (take g = 10 m/s)

Solution
Since motion is uniform, the applied force is equal to the frictional force
Fn = normal reaction = weight = 20 ×10 = 200 N
Therefore, µ =Ff / Fn = 50/ 200 = 0.25.

Applications of friction
1. Match stick
2. Chewing food
3. Brakes
4. Motion of motor vehicles
5. Walking

(Plumbing Applications- Rotation of moving parts in different Plumbing machines-

(Electric Diestocks, Drills, Hydraulic Machines, During cutting of steel pipes)