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Answers to Readers' Questions on Physical Science:

Friction Uses

The following 15 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.

List of first 10 items

• Is there any limit for friction?
• Friction and riding a bicycle
• Is walking aided by friction?
• Ways to increase friction on icy roads
• Why does ice have a low coefficient friction?
• What things don't need friction?
• Advantages of friction
• Why is friction important?
• Why do we need to increase and decrease friction?
• How can I determine the coefficient of friction?

Next 10

Is there any limit for friction?

Question

August 10, 2009

is there any limit for friction

sanjeev - India

18135

Answer

The coefficient of friction can range from zero to infinity. Sliding on ice can be close to zero friction. An object glued to the floor can have close to infinity friction.

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Friction and riding a bicycle

Question

May 21, 2009

Do you want to increase or decrease friction when riding a bicycle? Possible answers are:
- Increase, because you don't want to go too fast
- Both, because you want to be able to stop but yet peddle easily
- Decrease, because you don't want to peddle too hard.

I think the answer is:Increase, because you don't want to go too fast

arun - India

17782

Answer

If there is too much friction on the bicycle, it will be difficult to peddle the bicycle forward. Thus, you want to decrease the friction.

But when you want to stop, you put on the brakes, which increases the friction.

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Is walking aided by friction?

Question

May 4, 2009

Is walking aided by sliding or static frictin?

Maya - USA

17695

Answer

You could not walk without static friction, because your foot would slide on the surface with each step you try to take. There is a small sliding friction factor in walking, but the biggest factor is from static friction.

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Ways to increase friction on icy roads

Question

May 3, 2009

what are the three ways to increase the friction on wet or icy roads?

sanjay - Canada

17690

Answer

Many communities put sand on the roads when they are icy to increase the traction or friction. They may also put salt on the roads to melt the ice and increase the friction.

But also the tires on the cars can increase the traction or friction. Rain tires, snow tires and studded tires are used to increase the friction.

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Why does ice have a low coefficient friction?

Question

April 7, 2009

hay, my question is why ice has low coefficient friction? is it because of the way the molecule organize?
thank you

menakhem (meni) - Israel

17574

Answer

The molecular structure of the ice crystals is such that there isn't much adhesion that creates friction. But also, the top, narrow layer of ice can easily turn to water, which is a good lubricant.

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What things don't need friction?

Question

November 19, 2008

what are the things that do not really needed friction?

errol - USA

16827

Answer

Anything that you would like to slide easily would work better without friction. That is why lubrication is used to reduce the friction and make the movement easier.

Although you need friction to start sliding a box on the ice, once it starts sliding it does not need friction.

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Advantages of friction

Question

October 23, 2008

can u plzzz snd me sum advntags of friction.i m doing a project wrk on it...so kindly make it fast

nachi - India

16679

Answer

You cannot walk without friction. You cannot hold things without friction.

See the Reader Questions on this Friction page for more examples.

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Why is friction important?

Question

October 2, 2008

why friction is very important to our lives? what's the connection on it to our lives? what's the significance of it? how friction come up to our lives?

jeanne - Philippines

16579

Answer

You cannot walk or pick up things without friction. You would also slip off your chair without friction. A car would not start or stop.

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Why do we need to increase and decrease friction?

Question

August 24, 2008

why do we need to increase and decrease friction?

natasha - India

16391

Answer

You increase friction to help stop moving things like in automobile brakes.

You decrease friction to allow things to move easier.

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How can I determine the coefficient of friction?

Question

July 6, 2008

How can I determine the coefficient of limiting friction

AKEEM - Nigeria

16182

Answer

Although you can get approximate values from charts such as on: http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/friction_coefficient.htm, you really need to measure the coefficient with an experiment.

Take a given weight and measure the force required to just to start to move it. Then find the coefficient from the equation fr = F/W. See: http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/friction_equation.htm

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