Friction
Experiment Question:
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What type of force is friction, forward or backward?
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What are the two variables that affect the strength of friction?
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Definition:
- Friction - When two objects rub or slide against each other and creates a force
Hypothesis:
The force that friction creates is forward because it causes movement in the object and creates forward-oriented action in the object.
Experiment 1: What type of force is friction?
Results:
The speed of the block decreased and eventually came to a complete stop. Therefore, friction is a backward force.
Experiment 2:
- Take the block with the ring on it and place the block on the table.
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Take the spring scale and hook it onto the ring. Hook it from underneath the Ring
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Pull slowly and straight out until the block moves. You are looking to see how much force it takes to move the block. Record the number from the spring scale in the data table.
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Repeat 4 more times.
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Repeat steps 1 – 4 for one wooden block on sand paper. Make sure to hold the sand paper down so the sand paper does not move when using the spring scale.
- Stack all 3 wooden blocks on top of each other. The Wood with the ring on it should be on the bottom.
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Repeat steps 1 – 4 for 3 wooden blocks on table.
Data Table/Results:
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Amount of Force to move the blocks (N)
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Experiment
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One Wooden block on table
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One Wooden Block on sand paper
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3 Wooden blocks
on table
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Trial 1
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0.6 N
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2.8 N
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1.8 N
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Trial 2
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0.8 N
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2.9 N
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2.2 N
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Trial 3
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0.7 N
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3.0 N
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2.4 N
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Trial 4
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0.6 N
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3.0 N
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1.8 N
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Trial 5
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0.7 N
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3.1 N
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1.8 N
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Average
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0.68 N
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2.96 N
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2.0 N
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Uncertainty
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0.1 N
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0.1 N
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0.3 N
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Data Analysis/Discussion:
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The two variables changed in the experiment to affect the strength of friction were the roughness of the surface and the force- or weight- of the object.
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Increasing the weight affected the strength of friction by causing it to increase. This is supported by the data table, on which it was recorded that the average Net force for the object when there were three blocks on the table was 2.0- higher than just the single block.
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The rougher the surface is, the stronger the friction is. When we changed from the table to a piece of sand paper the friction did just so, and it was recorded in our data table that the average was 2.96- the highest average of all three experiments.
| One wooden block on table |
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| One wooden block on sand paper |
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| Three wooden blocks on table |
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Summary:
Friction is a backward force, and can be strengthened by adding weight to the variable that is affected by the friction or making the surface that the object is moving on rougher.
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