AP Physics 1 : Force of Friction

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #133 : Forces

A box is shoved and is sliding on a concrete floor. It has a mass of \displaystyle 150kg and in \displaystyle 3.5m slows from \displaystyle 6\frac{m}{s} to \displaystyle 1\frac{m}{s}. Determine the coefficient of friction.

Possible Answers:

None of these

\displaystyle .67

\displaystyle .85

\displaystyle .23

\displaystyle .51

Correct answer:

\displaystyle .51

Explanation:

\displaystyle W=E_f-E_i

\displaystyle W=.5*150*1^2-.5*150*6^2

\displaystyle W=-2663J

\displaystyle W=F*d

Work is due to friction:

\displaystyle W=\mu*m*g*d

Solving for \displaystyle \mu

\displaystyle \mu=\frac{W}{mgd}

Plugging in values:

\displaystyle \mu=\frac{-2663}{150*-9.8*3.5}

\displaystyle \mu=.51

Example Question #134 : Forces

A \displaystyle 5kg block is held at rest at the top of slope inclined at \displaystyle 20\degree. When the block is let go it slides down the slope, experiencing friction along the way. If the acceleration of the block down the ramp is \displaystyle a=-5\frac{m}{s^2}, what is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and ramp?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 1.12

\displaystyle 0.99

\displaystyle 0.56

\displaystyle 0.89

\displaystyle 1.43

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 1.43

Explanation:

Img 20160212 183040582Because the block is traveling on an inclined ramp and experiences friction, the two main forces at work here are a component of gravitational force and kinetic frictional force.

Img 20160212 183048473 The total force acting on the block can be written as \displaystyle F_{total} = F_{g, \parallel } + f_{k}, where \displaystyle F_{g, \parallel } is the component of gravitational force in the direction of motion, and \displaystyle f_{k} is the kinetic frictional force.

We know that forces can be expressed as \displaystyle F=ma, and kinetic friction can be expressed as \displaystyle f_{k} = -\mu_k N. Hence our total force can be expressed as \displaystyle F_{total} = ma_{total} = ma_{g, \parallel } - \mu_{k}N. The normal force can be further expressed as \displaystyle N = ma_{g, \perp }

The component of gravity parallel to the ramp is given by \displaystyle a_{g,\parallel} = a_{total}sin(20\degree), while the component of gravity perpendicular to the ramp is given by \displaystyle a_{g, \perp }=a_{total}cos(20\degree).

Our total force can hence be expressed as \displaystyle ma_{total} = ma_{g, \parallel } - \mu_{k}ma_{g, \perp }.

Thus, \displaystyle \mu_k = \frac{ma_{g, \parallel } - ma_{total}}{ma_{g, \perp }} = \frac{a_{total}sin(20 \degree) - a_{total}}{a_{total}cos(20\degree)}

and \displaystyle \mu_k = \frac{(-5\frac{m}{s^2})sin(20\degree) - (-5 \frac{m}{s^2})}{(-5\frac{m}{s^2})cos(20\degree)} = 1.43

Example Question #135 : Forces

Jennifer has a mass of \displaystyle 70kg and is riding a rocket powered sled of mass \displaystyle 170kg. The rocket produces a thrust of \displaystyle 3500N and she accelerates at a rate of \displaystyle 10\frac{m}{s^2}. Determine the coefficient of friction between the sled and the snow underneath.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle .21

\displaystyle .47

\displaystyle .14

\displaystyle .55

Correct answer:

\displaystyle .47

Explanation:

\displaystyle F_{net}=ma=F_1+F_2

\displaystyle ma=F_{rocket}+F_{friction}

\displaystyle ma=F_{rocket}-\mu_kmg

Solving for the coefficient of friction:

\displaystyle \frac{F_{rocket}-ma}{mg}=\mu_k

\displaystyle \frac{3500-(170+70)*10}{(70+170)*9.8}=\mu_k

\displaystyle \mu_k=.47

Example Question #136 : Forces

Consider the following scenario:

Sledder

A sledder of mass \displaystyle m is at the stop of a sledding hill at height \displaystyle h with a slope of angle \displaystyle a.

The hill has a height of \displaystyle 10m and a slope \displaystyle \measuredangle a=30^{\circ}. If a 75-kilogram sledder is initially at rest at the top of the hill and reaches the bottom of the hill with a final velocity \displaystyle 9\frac{m}{s}, what is the average frictional force applied to the sledder? Neglect air resistance and any other frictional forces.

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 223 N

\displaystyle 68N

\displaystyle 108N

\displaystyle 309N

\displaystyle 172N

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 223 N

Explanation:

We can use the expression for conservation of energy to solve this problem:

\displaystyle E= U_i +K_i + W= U_f +K_f

The problem statement tells us that the sledder is initially at rest, so we can eliminate initial kinetic energy. Also, if we assume that the bottom of the hill has a height of 0, we can eliminate final potential energy to get:

\displaystyle U_i + W= K_f  (1)

From here we need to determine what is going to contribute to work. The only extra piece of information we have in this problem is that there is an average frictional force. Therefore that will be the only source of work. Let's began expanding each term, going from left to right:

\displaystyle U_i = mgh  (2)

Note that we didn't mark the height as an initial height because we assumed that the bottom of the hill has a height of 0.

\displaystyle W= F_{f_{avg}}d

Where d is the length of the hill. We can calculate this distance using the height and angle of the hill.

\displaystyle sin(a)= \frac{h}{d}

Rearranging for distance:

\displaystyle d = \frac{h}{sin(a)}

Substituting this back into our expression for work, we get:

\displaystyle W = F_{f_{avg}}\left (\frac{h}{sin(a)} \right )  (3)

Now our final term:

\displaystyle K_f = \frac{1}{2}mv_f^2    (4)

Now substituting expression 2, 3, and 4 into expression 1, we get:

\displaystyle mgh - F_{f_{avg}}\left (\frac{h}{sin(a)} \right ) = \frac{1}{2}mv_f^2

The reason we are subtracting friction is because it is removing energy from the system. Another way we could have written our initial expression would be to have work on the final state and then friction would be positive.

Rearranging for the frictional force:

\displaystyle F_{f_{avf}}\left (\frac{h}{sin(a)} \right )= \frac{2mgh-mv_f^2}{2}

\displaystyle F_{f_{avg}} = \frac{\left ( 2mgh-mv_f^2\right )sin(a)}{2h}

We have all of these values, so time to plug and chug:

\displaystyle F_{f_{avg}} = \frac{\left ( 2(75kg)\left ( 10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )(10m)-(75kg)\left ( 9\frac{m}{s}\right )^2\right )sin(30^{\circ})}{2(10m)}

\displaystyle F_{f_{avg}} = 223 N

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