STATIC FRICTION

Objects that are in contact can also experience friction without moving with respect
to each other. This form of friction is called static friction. This force will arise when
some other interaction tries to produce slipping at the surface of contact. Static
friction will resist this process.

The Coefficient of Static Friction

If only static friction opposes the relative motion of two objects and other
forces on the objects increase, at some point the objects will start to slide
relative to each other, and the kinetic friction force will be applied in the
place of the static friction. This transition occurs when the static friction
reaches its maximum value. This limiting value of static friction is also
proportional to the normal force. Just like the coefficient of kinetic friction
introduced in the previous module, the coefficient of static friction is a
dimensionless constant that characterizes the contact between two surfaces.
The coefficient of static friction, determined experimentally, is generally
larger than the coefficient of kinetic friction for the same surface pair. (Notice
that the aluminum on aluminum table entry below is an exception to this
general rule. In this case, the metal surface interactions include a complex
effect called galling).
A more important difference than their relative size, however, is the
difference between the relationships implied by the static friction coefficient
versus that implied by the kinetic friction coefficient. In contrast with the
coefficient of kinetic friction (which specifies the exact value of the friction
force given the normal force) the coefficient of static friction only specifies
the limiting value (maximum) of the static friction force.
The mathematical relationship satisfied by the static friction force acting on
object A as a result of its contact with object B is:

fsABsNAB
where the inequality indicates that sNAB is the maximum size that the
static friction force between objects A and B can have.
When static friction is acting, it is generally less than its maximum value.
Only when the system is "on the verge of slipping" or "just before slipping
begins" does static friction attain its maximum value.

Various Coefficients of Friction

Materials

Interface Condition

Kinetic

Static

Steel on Steel

Dry

0.42-0.57

0.74-0.78

Steel on Steel

Lubricated (Graphite)

0.058

Aluminum on Aluminum

Dry

1.4

1.05

Glass on Glass

Dry

0.4

0.94

Wood on Wood

Dry

0.35

Wood on Wood

Wet

0.2

Wood on Brick

Dry

0.6

Wood on Leather

Dry

0.35

Ice on Ice

Clean, 0 C

0.02

0.1

Ice on Ice

Clean, -12 C

0.035

0.3

Ice on Ice

Clean, -80 C

0.09

0.5

Static Friction as a Constraint

Static friction is determined by dynamical constraints in a manner similar to the
normal force. The normal force takes on whatever value is necessary to prevent two
objects from moving into one another. Similarly, the static friction force takes on
whatever value is necessary to prevent two objects from sliding along one another
unless the force required to realize this constraint is larger than a certain limiting
value. The limiting nature of the value is an important difference between the
normal force and the static friction force. Importantly, it is only the limitingnot the
actualvalue of the static friction force that is proportional to the normal force
between the objects. In general, the static friction force is determined solely by
Newton's Second Law acting to satisfy the constraint.
If you are told or you suspect that two objects will remain stationary with respect to
a common surface of contact, you can use the following procedures to determine
the force of static friction acting on the objects:
Assuming there is no friction, compute the component of the net force acting on
each object that is parallel to the surface of contact.
Find the friction force that would be needed to ensure that the acceleration of each
object in the direction parallel to the surface is the same. (Hint: use Newton's
Second Law)
Check that the size of the friction force you computed in step 2 is less than or equal
to the maximum possible static friction force. Note that this step will require you to
analyze the forces perpendicular to the surface so that you can determine the
normal force between the objects.