An Inexpensive Technique to Measure Coefficients of Friction with Rolling

Solids
Paulo Simeo Carvalho and Adriano Sampaio e Sousa

Citation: Phys. Teach. 43, 548 (2005); doi: 10.1119/1.2120388

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.2120388
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 A
for Teaching Physics
pparatus
Erlend H. Graf, Column Editor
Department of Physics & Astronomy, SUNYStony Brook,
Stony Brook, NY 11794; egraf@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

An Inexpensive Technique to Measure Coefficients of

Friction with Rolling Solids
Paulo Simeo Carvalho and Adriano Sampaio e Sousa, Departamento de Fsica,
Faculdade de Cincias da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687,
P-4169-007 PORTO, Portugal; psimeao@fc.up.pt; aasousa@fc.up.pt

F rictional forces are everywhere.

They are probably among the
most important macroscopic forces in f
N
tions, we find expressions for the
static frictional force and acceleration
of the CM:
our daily routine because we depend
1 2
on them to walk, to pick up objects, f = Mg sin ; aCM = g sin . (3)
and even to eat! They affect our lives 3 3
in different ways, and thus it is very Here it must be stressed that f is
important to understand them better; Mg always less (or equal) than its maxi-
this is what we say to our students. mum value, fmax = s Mg cos (s is
There are many experimental meth- Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the coefficient of static friction), i.e.,
ods and techniques to measure static the forces acting on a cylinder rolling for every angle satisfying the con-
freely along an incline.
and kinetic frictional forces (and to dition tan < 3s , the cylinder rolls
determine their corresponding coeffi- without slipping; when tan > 3s,
cients of friction), which we can find be encouraged to do it). The descrip- it rolls and slips. Therefore, there is
in several textbooks.1-5 Most of them tion of the cylinders motion can be a critical angle c for which the coef-
involve pulling/pushing blocks along done mathematically by using both ficient s can be determined:
a flat surface and expensive equip- fundamental equations, for transla-
1
ment for accurate measuring (sensors, tion s = tan c . (4)
computers, etc.). In this paper we 3
show how to find both coefficients of Fext = M aCM , (1)
Now let us suppose the angle in
friction, static and kinetic, with roll-
and for rotation Fig. 1 is higher than c. The cylinder
ing objects instead of blocks in a very rolls and slips along the incline, and
simple way and using nonexpensive CM = ICM , (2) the forces acting on the cylinder are
laboratory equipment. the same as those represented in the
where is the moment figure, but f is now given by f =
k
Theory of inertia about the axis of the cyl- k Mg cos (k is the coefficient of
Suppose we put a solid cylinder of inder, and CM is the sum of the kinetic friction). Making use of Eqs.
radius R and mass M on an incline torques about the center of mass. (1) and (2), we get the analytical ex-
and let it freely rotate along it, as If the cylinder rolls without pressions for the angular and linear
shown in Fig. 1, where we have also slipping, then aCM = R. Therefore, accelerations:
represented the forces acting on the Eqs. (1) and (2) become, respectively, 2 g cos
= k ; (5)
cylinder (this is very useful in the Mg sin f = M aCM and f R = R
classroom and students should always ICM (aCM/R) . Combining these equa- aCM = g (sin k cos ).

548 DOI: 10.1119/1.2120388 THE PHYSICS TEACHER Vol. 43, November 2005

Downloaded 04 Dec 2012 to 152.3.102.242. Redistribution subject to AAPT license or copyright; see http://tpt.aapt.org/authors/copyright_permission
 Apparatus
Experimental procedure
cylinder,
xL1
x = x L x All you need for this experiment is
a flat inclined surface, a protractor, a
xL2 1
= g (sin 3k cos )t2. (8) solid cylinder (we have used one with
2 44.5-mm diameter and 47.0-mm
The time elapsed for N complete length), a small brush, a measuring
rotations ( = 2NR) can be deter- tape and some ink (permanent ink
mined from Eq. (7), will be just fine). Glue the brush
Fig. 2. Representation of the positions
handle to one of the cylinders bases
marked by the cylinder when it com- 1
pletes each rotation. 2 N R 2 so that the hair stands just a bit out-
tN = . (9) side the border (see Fig. 4). Choose
k g cos
a value for the slope of the incline
D Therefore, the difference xN for N and measure it with the protractor.
complete rotations is given by Drop some ink into the brush and
tan put the cylinder at the top of the
2R x N = N R 3 . (10) incline. Carefully rotate the cylinder

k
until the hair almost touches the sur-
If we could mark the positions face. By doing this, you will get the
tan c tan
where the cylinder completes each first mark on the surface when the
rotation on the surface of the incline, cylinder starts to move. You are now
Fig. 3. Graph of the distance between we would get a diagram like the one ready to start your experiment (see
two successive marks on the incline vs in Fig. 2. The distance between two Fig. 5).
tan , according to Eq. (11). The jump successive marks, Let the cylinder roll down freely.
1 1
at c is proportional to ;
D = xL(N + 1) x LN Measure the distance between the
therefore it vanishes k c

when k is close to c. tan marks on the surface and repeat this

Since the cylinder starts from rest
at position x = 0, the position of the
CM at instant t is given by:
1 1
x L = aCMt 2 = g (sin k cos )t 2 . (6) experimental graph similar to that
2 2
Meanwhile, the cylinder rotates by
an angle ,
1 2 k g cos 2
= t = t .
2 R
As it rolls and slips, x L does not
match the distance x = R along
the circular arc described by , i.e.,
there is a difference x between the
displacement of the CM and the
length along the arc described by any angle,
point at the external surface of the
= 2R + R 3, (11) procedure for different angles. As you
k
will see for yourself, if the bases of the
could therefore be measured. cylinder do not have exactly the same
By plotting D as a function of radius it will describe a curved line
tan , we would expect to obtain an instead of a straight line, so the dis-
tance between marks will not be con-
represented in Fig. 3, which was stantthis is much more important
determined by simulation. Above when the cylinder slips; if this is the
the critical angle c the graph has a case, we suggest you simply measure
constant slope m, which allows us to the distance between the two first
(7) determine the coefficient of kinetic marks. Do not forget to clean the
friction by using Eq. (11): surface before each sampling!
In our own experiment, we used a
R
k = . (12) common glass surface and a polished
m cylinder made of aluminium. The
The coefficient of static friction can results are plotted in Fig. 6.
be easily calculated from the critical Above 22 the slope in the experi-
mental graph witnesses the slipping
tan c
s = . (13) of the cylinder while rotating down
3 the incline. Computing the slope of

THE PHYSICS TEACHER Vol. 43, November 2005 549

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 Apparatus
Fig. 4. One of the bases
of the aluminium cylinder.
The brush handle is glued
in such a way that the hair
stands just a bit outside
the border.
Fig. 5. Experimental setup
used. The cylinder is ready
to go along the incline.
35
i.e., at some points the cylinder rolls
and slips, and at others it only rolls.
Such a situation could be found in
other experimental measurements,
so teachers and students should be
aware of it.
Conclusion
We have shown in a very easy and
inexpensive way how to measure the
coefficients of static and kinetic fric-
tion with rolling objects. This meth-
od can be used in any middle school
laboratory lacking equipment such as
sensors and computers; you just need
a small brush, a measuring tape, and
some ink. Results are easily compared
with the theory, but we recommend
that Eqs. (10) and (11) be conceptu-
ally discussed in the classroom and
interpreted in terms of the cylinders
motion (simultaneous rolling and
slipping, angular and linear speed in
each instant tN, and so on).

References
30 1. R.A. Serway and R.J. Beichner, Phys-
Fig. 6. Distance between ics for Scientists and Engineers with
the two first successive Modern Physics, 5th ed. (Saunders
25 marks made by a pol- College Publishing, New York,
D / cm

ished aluminium cylin-

20
15
10
0 0.1 0.2
this graph and using Eqs. (11) and
(12), we get as a result for the coef-
ficient of kinetic friction (aluminum
on glass)k = 0.091 0.007, the ac-
curacy being affected essentially by
the uncertainty of the slope.
As the cylinder effectively starts
to slip above the critical angle of 20,
the coefficient of static friction (alu-
2000), p. 134.
der on a glass incline vs
tan , obtained from exper- 2. C.H. Bernard and C.D. Epp, Labo-
imental data. ratory Experiments in College Physics,
7th ed. (Wiley, 1995), p. 75.
3. F. Tyler, A Laboratory Manual of
Physics (Edward Arnold Publishers
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 Ltd., London, 1970), p. 8.
tan
4. E.M. Somekh, Practical Physics
(Chatto & Windus [Educational]
minum on glass) can be determined Ltd., London, 1965), p. 89.
from Eq. (13), and so we have come 5. J. Gastineau, K. Appel, C. Bakken,
to s = 0.121 0.007, where the ac- and R. Sorensen, Physics With Com-
curacy is affected only by the uncer- puters, 2nd ed. (Vernier Software &
tainty of the critical angle. Technology, Beaverton, OR, 2000),
Between 20 and 22 we observed p. 12-1T.
a nonpredicted behavior that we as- PACS codes: 01.50P, 46.30P, 46.02A
sign to a transient regime where both
static and kinetic friction are present,

550 THE PHYSICS TEACHER Vol. 43, November 2005

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