What is Friction?
Prerequisites Required: Forces
In a previous article, we deteremined that Force was the cause for objects to accelerate and deform.
Jonathan Bowen
From that article we again use the 3D printed spring and aluminum/plastic blocks to demonstrate properties of friction. Remember that more deflection of the spring means more force was applied to the spring's ends.
For our first experiment, we pull on the spring with our hand.
From this experiment, we focus on the spring's deformation (which measures force) at two key points.
We observe that the spring deforms before the block begins to accelerate. The block is just sitting on the ground! There must be some kind of force acting between the block and the ground that resists acceleration. We call this static friction.
