Coefficient of

Friction

Syeda Wasti

Lab Partners:

Soorya Deepak

Joseph Piaubert

Roa Zeyna

SP1XB-02
Abstract

The purpose of this lab is to determine the coefficient of friction for wood on synthetic stone and

felt on synthetic stone.

Introduction

Friction is the force between surfaces in contact that resists the relative lateral (tangential)

motion. Static friction is the resistance a stationary object must overcome in order to be set in
motion. Kinetic friction is resistive motion on an object that is already moving. The coefficient

of friction is the ratio between the weight of an object being moved along a surface and the force

of friction: ƒ = μN. The coefficient of friction depends on the surfaces in contact and is directly

proportional to the normal force.

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Diagram

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Procedure

Write a brief description of the activities you performed during the lab. Gathering or putting

away equipment, entering numbers in a table, calculating results, and writing a report are not lab

procedures. Use bullets if you like. Something like this…

1. Configure LoggerPro; start with the wooden side of the block facing the stone top of

the table; hook the motion sensor onto the block

2. Gather masses and weigh them, weigh the wooden block

3. When beginning each trial make sure the motion sensor’s hook is not pulling on the

block, so that there is no tension before you start to move the block, and “zero” the

scale

4. Click “collect” and begin to pull the motion sensor backwards at a constant velocity

5. Click “stop”; you now have a graph of force over time. Click “stats” and record the

max value (static friction). Highlight the section on the graph that looks the most like

a horizontal line. Click “stats” to get the mean (kinetic friction

6. Repeat steps 2-4 with 10 different trials making sure to have a different mass each

time. Make sure to add the weight of the wooden block to each trial along with the

added masses.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 but with the felt side of the block facing the table.

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Analysis

F Max was a measure of static friction and F ave was a measure of kinetic friction.

Wood on Stone

Trial Mass (kg) Weight (N) F Max (N) F ave (N)

1. 0.602 5.90 1.749 1.507

2. 0.461 4.52 1.729 0.793

3. 0.605 5.93 2.477 1.467

4. 1.105 10.8 3.544 2.412

5. 0.264 2.59 0.5285 0.039

6. 0.620 6.08 1.627 0.801

7. 1.461 14.3 5.157 2.920

8. 0.605 5.93 2.118 0.843

9. 1.258 2.53 1.831 0.602

10. 0.958 9.39 4.314 1.962

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Felt on stone

Trial Mass (kg) Weight (N) F Max (N) F ave (N)

1. 0.461 4.52 1.530 1.087

2. 1.105 10.8 3.789 2.822

3. 0.605 5.93 1.326 0.883

4. 0.602 5.90 1.743 1.304

5. 1.602 15.7 4.637 3.346

6. 1.102 10.8 3.315 2.331

7. 0.958 9.39 2.702 2.023

8. 1.958 19.2 5.672 4.152

9. 2.617 25.6 7.09 5.680

10. 1.605 15.7 4.717 3.429

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Conclusion

Coefficients of friction

Static (N) Kinetic (N)

Wood on stone 0.281 ± 1.90 0.223 ± 1.51

Felt on stone 0.223 ± 1.51 0.281 ± 1.90

Sources of Error

The motion sensor was not moving at a constant velocity and there was already some tension

force between the motion sensor and the wooden block.

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