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The Physics Teacher -- October 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 7, pp. 412

A strange behavior of friction

Rebecca Morrow, Alistair Grant, and David P. Jackson

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California 95053

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We investigate the effects of dry, sliding friction between a felt-covered wood block and a wooden table. By measuring the applied force and the acceleration of the block, we experimentally determine the force of kinetic friction and find that it is constant when the applied force is larger than a terminal frictional force Ft=μtmg. However, we also find that the block continues to move without decelerating when the applied force is less than Ft. This strange behavior contradicts the common notion that the force of kinetic friction is constant and depends only on the normal force.

© 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

education, teaching, student experiments, sliding friction, force measurement, velocity measurement, friction, sliding, kinetic, velocity-strengthening

PACS

  • 01.50.Pa

    Laboratory experiments and apparatus

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.880335

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