December 2, 2023

Physics 30, Period 5,

Physics 30 - Friction lab report

Purpose
In this lab, we are going to see if the coefficient of friction changes when we change the mass of
an object. For this, we will be placing a textbook on a table and then lift it till the book just starts
to move. We will then find the distance we lifted the table by and use this to find the angle
between the ground. Using this we will find the coefficient of friction. An important thing to note
is that this is the static coefficient of friction.

Theory
Force is a quantitative measure of the interaction between two physical bodies. Since it has a
magnitude and direction it is a vector quantity. Force can cause a change in the speed, direction
and shape of an object. The SI unit of force is Newton(N). According to Newton’s second law,
the equation of force is F = m × a, where m is the mass of the object and a is the acceleration
of the object. There are many types of forces and they are categorised into two groups contact
forces and non-contact forces. In our experiment, three forces act on the object frictional force
and the normal force, which is a contact force and gravitational force, which is a non-contact
force.

Normal force The normal force is the force exerted by a surface that supports the weight of an
object resting on it. It acts perpendicular to the surface. When an object is placed on a
horizontal surface, like a table or the ground, the normal force is equal in magnitude and
opposite in direction to the force of gravity acting on the object. On a flat surface, its equation is
N = mg, where m is the mass of the object and g is the acceleration due to gravity on that
object. In the case of an inclined surface which is true in our case, the strength of the normal
surface is reduced the more the surface is inclined, hence the formula becomes N = mgcos(Θ ¿
, where Θ is the angle between the table and the floor.

Force due to gravity is the force of attraction between any two bodies or more with
mass. But in the context of this experiment, the force of gravity is the force with which the
earth attracts an object toward its centre. The formula is F = mg, where m is the mass of the
object and g is the acceleration due to gravity which equals 9.8m/ s2. Since our object is placed
on an incline we would have to break down the force of gravity to its vertical and horizontal
components. The vertical component is equal to the normal force acting on the object while the
horizontal component is the force that is making the object move down the table. It is basically
the applied force.
Frictional Force is the force that resists motion when the surface of one object comes in
contact with the surface of another.It acts parallel to the surfaces and opposite to the direction of
motion or the direction of the impending motion. Frictional forces between surfaces are
influenced by several factors, primarily the texture of the surfaces and the applied force pressing
them together. The angle and position of objects also play a role in determining the magnitude
of frictional force. When an object is placed flat against a surface, the frictional force equals the
object's weight. However, pushing the object against the surface increases the frictional force,
surpassing the object's weight. The equation for the frictional force is F = μ × N, where μ is the
coefficient of friction which is a measure of how sticky or slippery a surface is, and N is the
normal force. There are two main types of friction,

Kinetic friction is the force that acts between moving objects. It opposes the sliding motion and
tries to reduce the speed at which the surfaces slide across each other. It depends on the
normal force and the coefficient of kinetic friction.

Static friction is the frictional force that opposes the initiation of motion between two surfaces.
It is basically the force that keeps an object at rest when a force is being applied to that object to
move it, up to a certain limit. It adjusts its magnitude to exactly counterbalance the applied force
until the force applied exceeds a certain limit, called the limiting static friction, and motion
begins. So it increases to be equal to and in the opposite direction of the force being applied to
the object. An important thing to note is that the maximum force of static friction is not
dependent on the area of contact. Also the more the normal force, the maximum static force of
friction increases. The coefficient of static friction is different from the coefficient of kinetic
friction and this is what we will be finding in this experiment. So we know that static friction is
equal to the force applied at that instant so, we can express the force of friction as
, where is equal to the angle between the table and the ground and
is equal to the force of gravity that the textbook is experiencing.
By dividing the frictional force by the normal force, we can figure out the coefficient of friction:

Through this, we can see that the coefficient of friction is dependent on the angle between the
table and the floor.

To find this theta value, we can use the trigonometric ratios,

 .
By rearranging this ratio, we obtain

.
Now, if we can calculate the distance between the two legs and the distance between the raised
leg and the ground, we can plug in these values to obtain theta.

The formula for calculating the margin of error for a measurement or calculation:

The formula for calculating the error when comparing a calculated value against a known

value:
We know that the acceleration of gravity is a constant value, and around here on
Earth. This force will be acting upon the textbook and ultimately causing it to start sliding down
the table.
Materials
● A ruler
● A measuring tape
● A weight scale
● 2 textbooks
● 2 bricks
● Tape
Procedure
1. Find the length between the 2 legs of the table. ( Not the length of the table)
2. Then weigh the various objects you are using.
3. Place the object on one end of the table.
4. Gradually lift the table, and stop the instant the object starts to move.
5. Measure the height between the leg of the table on the side you lifted the table and the
ground and note it down
6. Add another object on top of the initial object and tape them together if necessary. Make
sure that the tape does not touch the table. Do the whole process again.
7. Repeat the same process but add an extra object each time you do it.
8. Using your data calculate the coefficient of friction.

Observations and data

Distance between the two legs of the table = 143.8cm(1.438m)

Mass of each book(identical) = 1913g (1.913kg)

Mass of brick 1 = 1533g(1.533kg)

Mass of brick 2 = 1529g(1.529kg)

Height of the incline with one textbook = 39.3cm(0.393m)
Height of the incline with two textbooks = 39.5cm(0.395m)
Height of the incline with two textbooks and 1 brick = 41.5cm(0.415m)
Height of the incline with two textbooks and 2 bricks = 42.2cm(0.422m)

As we increased the weight of the books we had to lift the table higher than before.

Analysis of Data

We are going to use the different heights we got for the different weights, divide it by the length
between the legs of the table and then take the sin inverse of this value. This gives us the angle
of the incline for the respective weights of the objects. We are then going to find the tan of this
angle which will give us the the coefficient of static friction for each weight.

1 Textbook
0.393 m
−1
θ=sin ( )
1.438 m
∘
θ=15.86

μ=tan(15.86)
μ=0.284

2 Textbooks
0.395 m
−1
θ=sin ( )
1.438 m
∘
θ=15.94

μ=tan(15.94 )
μ=0.286
2 Textbooks + 1 Brick
0.415 m
−1
θ=sin ( )
1.438 m
∘
θ=16.77
 μ=tan(16.77)
μ=0.301
2 Textbooks + 2 Bricks
−10.422 m
θ=sin ( )
1.438 m
∘
θ=17.06

μ=tan(17.06)
μ=0.306

Further analysis

Objects Mass(Kg) Coefficient of friction( μ ¿

1 Textbook 1.913kg 0.284

2 Textbooks 3.826kg 0.286

2 Textbooks + 1 Brick 5.359kg 0.301

2 Textbooks + 2 Bricks 6.888kg 0.306

As we can see from this table, as the mass increases the coefficient of static friction also
increases. However, this contradicts our theory because the coefficient of friction is independent
of weight and just depends on the types of surfaces interacting. This is because when we
increase the weight of an object its normal force also increases. Since the force of friction is
directly proportional to the normal force it too increases. Therefore the coefficient of friction
remains constant. So though the increase in mass leads to an increase in static friction, the
coefficient of static friction remains the same. So then why does friction increase when the mass
increases?

There are several reasons why this happens like we might not have stopped raising the table at
the exact time the book started to move, so we might have gone a little higher, therefore the
angle would have increased. Also while measuring the height we might not have properly held
the table in its place, we might have slightly lowered the table as our hands were trembling.
Also, we might not have placed the book in the same spot after every observation. This would
have reduced the height we had to lift the table which affects the coefficient of friction.
A major source of error is an increase in contact area. Firstly we need to understand that there
is a difference between contact area and surface area. If the two objects in contact are perfectly
flat and solid then the contact area is equal to the surface area as all parts of the object are in
contact. But realistically this is not true as objects will always have some irregularities and nicks.
So the surface area is basically the apparent contact area, not the real contact area. The real
contact area is lesser than the apparent contact area and increases with an increase in mass.
Theoretically, the surface area does not affect the coefficient of friction as the area of contact of
an object increases, it reduces the pressure between the two surfaces for a given force holding
them together assuming that the mass of the object remains the same, thereby compensating
for the increase in surface area. So overall, the frictional force remains the same. But that’s the
problem in our experiment we are increasing the mass of the object and want that to be the only
variable, we want the contact area to be constant. When we increase the mass more parts of
the object come in contact with the table and since they are not smooth and filled with crests
and nicks, it increases the friction force acting on the body. While the other sources of error had
a negligible effect this error is one of the main reasons why there is a difference between the
experimental results and theory.

Taking the measurable sources of error into account, we can find the actual range of masses
and coefficients of friction.

For 1 textbook:
0.3935 m
−1
θ=sin ( )
1.4375 m
∘
θ=15.89

μ=tan(15.89)
μ=0.285

−10.3925 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4385 m
∘
θ=15.83

μ=tan(15.83)
μ=0.284

For 2 textbooks:
−10.3955 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4375 m
∘
θ=15.97

μ=tan(15.97)
μ=0.286

−10.3945 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4385 m
∘
θ=15.91

μ=tan(15.91)
μ=0.285
For two textbooks + 1 brick:
−10.4155 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4375 m
∘
θ=16.80

μ=tan(16.80)
μ=0.302

−10.4145 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4385 m
∘
θ=16.75

μ=tan(16.75)
μ=0.301

For two textbooks + 2 bricks:

−10.4225 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4375 m
∘
θ=17.09

μ=tan(17.09)
μ=0.307

−10.4215 m
θ=sin ( )
1.4385 m
∘
θ=17.04

μ=tan(16.75)
μ=0.306

Number of objects Range of Masses(kg) Range of coefficients of

friction(error% = 0.003%)

1 textbook 1.9115 - 1.9145 0.284 - 0.285

2 textbooks 3.8245 - 0.3828 0.285 - 0. 286

2 textbooks + 1 brick 5.3575 - 5.3605 0.301 - 0.302

2 textbooks + 2 bricks 6.8865 - 6.8895 0.306 - 0.307

Conclusion
We succeeded in determining the static coefficient of friction for a textbook while adding mass to
it after every observation. We used static frictional force which was equal to the maximum force
acting on the book by gravity when we tilted the table. We then divided the frictional force by the
normal force to isolate the coefficient of friction. Using this technique, we were able to determine
that the textbook's coefficient of friction was 0.284 ,0.286,0.301,0.306 for corresponding masses
of 1.913kg,3.826kg,5.359kg, and 6.888kg. However, the results contradicted our theory as it
proved that the coefficient of friction increased with mass. The reason this happened was that
as we added more mass to the object its contact area increased thus increasing the frictional
force. Therefore we got the results due to some human errors and also because neither the
textbook nor the table is completely flat.

Sources of error

1. Mass scale sig figs

The mass scale we used only displayed values down to the nearest gram, so the mass
that we used to calculate the force of friction has an error margin of ± 0.0005kg.
1.9135−1.9125
×100 %=0.052 %
1.913
This is really low. Therefore, there won't be a need for an improvement because this
probably did not affect the experiment. To obtain a better level of precision, a mass scale
with a smaller mass subdivision might be utilized.

2. Mass scale deviation

The measurement we used to determine the acceleration had an error margin of ± 0.001
kg because the mass scale we used had a variation in mass of 1 gram.
1.914−1.912
×100 %=0.10 %
1.913
Again this error also is really small therefore it had a negligible impact on the
experiment. And if we really wanted to reduce this error we just need to use a better
weight scale.

3. Metre Stick Notches

The metre stick we used only displayed values down to millimetres, so our
measurements for length have an error margin of ± 0.0005m.
0.3935−0.3925
×100 %=0.25 %
0.393
To obtain a better degree of precision, use a measuring instrument with more notches
that go to a smaller subdivision of length.

4. Inconsistent Surface Area

The irregularities on a surface can significantly impact the coefficient of friction as a book
slides down an incline. These surface irregularities can increase the actual contact area
between the book and the incline, leading to heightened frictional resistance.
Additionally, the variability in surface roughness across the irregular surface may result
in fluctuations in the coefficient of friction as the object moves across different regions.
Microscopic interactions between the irregularities and features on the object can further
contribute to frictional forces, potentially affecting the sliding motion. Furthermore, the
influence of moisture on the irregular surface, either by trapping or repelling water, can
introduce additional complexities to the frictional properties.