Year 7 Forces

Form: _______
All About FRICTION
1. What is Friction? [ 3 points ]

Name: ______________________________

2. Write down at least 20 Daily Uses of Friction

No

Friction

No

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

10

20

Friction

3. Give 3 situations where friction becomes an advantage or a nuisance.

4. Describe 5 ways in which friction can be decreased or reduced.

No

Friction

No

Friction

Tie up shoe lace

11

Pulley wheels

12

Eraser - erasing an answer

using a rubber
Drying wet towel

Sand paper

14

Grind stone to sharpen chisels

and knives
Rubber balloons with your hair
to create statics
Pen cap

Nail File

15

Cork in bottle

File

16

Brake pad in car or bike

Plier

17

Tyres

Nail to the wood

18

Open screw top

19

Rub your hands together and

feel the warmth
Washing your hand properly

10

Turning door knob

20

Velcro in bags or shoes

21

Holding chopsticks

31

Scrubbing a plate

22

Striking a match

32

Brushing your teeth

23

33

Friction between paper (2

books)

24

Walking - if there is no friction

between your shoes/feet and
the floor, you would be
slippering in one place forever.
Running

34

Microfiber sponge for cleaning

25

Holding a pen

35

26

Chewing food

36

27

Maintaining balance

37

28

Keeps your pants on

38

29

Car moving forward

39

30

Friction belt in car or cooler

40

Moving object eventually

stops
Meteors hitting the earths
atmosphere - the friction is
what causes the heat that
makes them burn up
Roll a penny and watch it
stop. Friction of the air and
the rolling resistance is what
slows it down
It keeps us on our feet, have
you ever tried standing on a
completely frictionless
surface?
Spinning and Smashing in
Table Tennis or Tennis
An object sitting on an
included plane

13

Definition of friction
1. Friction is the resistance that one surface or object encounters when
moving over another or a force that slows motion and dampens energy.
2. Friction is the force that resists relative motion between two bodies in
contact.
3. Friction is a force which causes the motion between two surfaces to be
reduced.
4. Frictionisaforcethatiscreatedwhenevertwosurfacesmoveortrytomoveacrosseach
other.

5. Friction is a force that acts in an opposite direction to movement.

Facts about friction
1.

Frictionalwaysopposesthemotionorattemptedmotionofonesurfaceacrossanother
surface.

2.

Frictionisdependantonthetextureofbothsurfaces.

3.

Frictionisalsodependantontheamountofcontactforcepushingthetwosurfacestogether
(normalforce).

4. Friction keeps us from slipping and falling everywhere.

5.

Ways to increase friction

1. Make the surface rougher
2. Use rough surface materials eg. Carpet, cork
3. Increase the surface area opening the parachute

Ways to decrease friction

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Smoothen the surface eg. Using very fine sand paper

Aerodynamic or streamline structures
Using lubricant, eg. Wax, oil, water, WD40 etc
Fluid between joints in animals
Swallowing with water/ liquid or more saliva

Disadvantages of Friction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Wearing out tyres and brake pads

Wearing out shoes
Heat produced by Engine rubbing parts
Forest fires can be caused due to friction when the branches of trees rub
against each other.
Drag and water resistance slow down the moving object
Air resistance (drag) slow you from riding a bike or running
Opposing the motion
Producing noise door hinge with too much friction.
Vehicle tyres on a roadway, a process which generates heat and sound

Types of Friction
1. Static friction: friction between two objects that are not moving relative
to each other
2. Rolling Friction - associated with the rolling of a wheel or something
circular along a surface.
3. Kinetic or Sliding friction is friction where an object slides, or rubs
against, another surface.
4. Fluid friction is the friction of something going through any type of liquid
or air.