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Unit 1: Mechanics Page 25
Activities, Experiments, Projects
Lesson 3: Friction
Note: This section is an abbreviated overview of the experiments online.
more then 2 feet long.
Experiment: Tracking Your A ruler
Treads Paper
Pencil
Now let’s talk about the other ever A partner
present force on this Earth, and
that’s friction. Friction is the force 1. Put the board (or whatever
between one object rubbing you’re using) on the table.
against another object. Friction is
what makes things slow down. 2. Put the shoe on the board with
the back of the shoe touching the
Without friction things would just back of the board.
keep moving unless they hit
something else. Without friction, 3. Have a partner hold the ruler
you would not be able to walk. upright (so that the12 inches end
Your feet would have nothing to is up and the 1 inch end is on the
push against and they would just table) at the back of the board.
slide backward all the time like
you’re doing the moon walk. 4. Slowly lift the back of the board
leaving the front of the board on
Friction is a very complicated the table. (You’re making a ramp
interaction between pressure and with the board). Eventually the
the type of materials that are shoe will begin to slide.
touching one another. Let’s do a
couple of experiments to get the 5. Stop moving the board when the
hang of what friction is. shoe slides and measure the height
that the back of the board was
Here's what you need: lifted to.
About 5 different shoes (they do 6. Look at the 5 shoes you chose
not need to be stinky) and test them. Before you do,
A board, or a tray, or a large book make a hypothesis for which shoe
at least 15 inches long and no will have the most friction. Make a
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