III.

Analysis of Data

When two bodies interact on their surfaces, the interaction is called

contact forces. Friction is an example of contact forces. Friction is the force
that opposes to the motion of an object, the direction of the friction force
is opposite the direction of the motion of an object. The equation of friction
is f=µn. Friction forces may either be static or kinetic. Static friction acts
when the object is at rest or at equilibrium. Kinetic friction acts when the
object moves over a surface. For this experiment we will be computing for
the coefficient of friction.

On the first part of the experiment, determination of the coefficient

of friction, we encountered some errors. The values we mp we obtained for
the first (mblock) and second (mblock + added) is equal. The value of mp for
mblock +added should be greater than that of mblock. By the time we realized
the error, the materials/equipment used for the experiment were already
returned so we cannot repeat this part of the experiment again. From the
experiment, we have proven that coefficient of friction is independent on
the area of contact. The area of contact does not affect the coefficient of
friction because it is not a factor in the equation of friction (f=µn).
TABLE FOR DETERMINATION OF THE ANDLE OF REPOSE

TRIAL vertical height, h horizontal tan θ Θ

distance, b
1 37 cm 116.5 cm 0.3176 11.6198°
2 50 cm 113 cm 0.4428 23.8838°
3 44 cm 115.75 cm 0.3801 20.8118°
4 37 cm 119 0.2815 15.7219°

The second part of the experiment is determining the angle of

repose. When the block slides down the inclined track without acceleration,
it is in equilibrium and a triangle can be formed by the weight of the block,
force of friction and the normal force. For every trial the plane was inclined
so that the block slides on a uniform motion. The data for vertical height h
and horizontal distance b obtained was used to calculate the tangent of the
angle and the angle of repose. The coefficient of friction is equal to the
tangent of the angle of repose (µ = h/b = tanθ). From the data obtained, it
can be observed that as the angle of repose increases, the coefficient of
friction also increases.

The last part is about determination of maximum force that causes

uniform motion. Since the average coefficient of friction from part one was
used, errors were also obtained in the computations of the actual value of
mp. The experimental values obtained for this part accumulated minimal
percent difference even if there were errors from first part of the
experiment.

Throughout the experiment, uniform motion was observed because

we applied Newton’s First Law of Motion (∑ 𝐹 = 0) in deriving the
equations used for the experiment. If a body is at rest or moving with
constant velocity, it is in equilibrium and the vector sum of all the forces
acting on it is zero. At a constant speed or motion, the kinetic friction is
also constant.
IV. Conclusion

The two contact forces present between two bodies are normal force
and friction. Friction is equal to the product of the coefficient of friction and
the normal force. Friction always acts opposite the direction of motion.
Static friction acts when the body is not moving relative to the surface.
Kinetic friction acts when the object is sliding over the surface. Static
friction is computed by the formula fs=µsn, while kinetic friction has the
formula fk=µkn.

The coefficient of static friction (µs) is greater the nthe coefficient of

kinetic friction (µk). As soon as the object starts to slide, static friction no
longer acts on the object and it turns to a lower kinetic friction.

Angle of repose is defined as the minimum angle made by an inclined

plane with the horizontal such that an object placed on the inclined surface
just begins to slide. The tangent of the angle of repose is equal to the
coefficient of friction.

In the field of Civil engineering, friction is applied in frictional

resistance. Under a condition of sliding or tendency to slide when un-
lubricated surfaces of two solid bodies are in contact dry friction or
Coulomb’s friction is encountered. The major cause of dry friction is
believed to be the microscopic roughness of surface of contact. Fluid
friction occurs between layers within a fluid that are moving relative to
each other. This internal resistance to flow is described by viscosity.
Internal friction is found in all solid materials that are subjected to cyclical
loading.