Friction and the Inclined Plane

I. Purpose
This lab will study friction and the
motion of an object on an inclined plane.
II. Background
Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows the configuration that
will be used in this experiment. An
object, m1, hangs by a string, which
passes over a pulley and is attached to
mass m2. One can analye the forces
acting on the masses and determine the
acceleration of the masses.
Figure ! shows the free body diagram
for each of the masses when m1 is
moving up, and the coordinate systems
that are used for each mass.
Figure !.
"n figure !,
F# is the force due to gravity.
F$ is the normal force
T is the tension due to m1
Ff is the force of friction
The e%uations for each mass follow from
Figure !. &e have for m1'
(1)
=
1 1
a m F
y
(!)
1 1 1
a m g m T =
For m2 we have'
(*)
=
! !
a m F
x
(+) ! ! !
sin a m g m F T
f
= +
,ince the masses are attached they will
have the same speed and acceleration.
Therefore we can write,
(-) a a a =
! 1
From e%uations (!), (+) and (-), it can be
shown that,
(.)
! 1
1 !
) sin (
m m
F m m g
a
f
+

=

On a separate page, starting from
e%uations (1) / (*), derive e%uation (.).
The force of friction is related to the
normal force through the e%uation,
(0) Ff=

FN,
where 1 is called the coefficient of
kinetic friction.
"n this lab, the predictions of e%uation
(.) will be compared to measurements.
y
m
!
m
1
T
T
F
G
1
F
G
2
F
N
F
f
x
y

m
!
m
1

III. Procedure
1. Measuring

Figure *. ,etup for Finding 1

2lace the incline horiontally as shown
in figure *. "f there are no net forces
acting on the masses then their
acceleration is ero and they will move
with a constant velocity. "f this is the
case then e%uations ! and + become,
(3) T - m1g=0
(4)
5 5 = +
f
F T
6ombining these yields,
(15) Ff= -m1g.
That is, as long as the masses are
moving with a constant velocity (so that
the acceleration is ero) the force of
friction is just the force of the hanging
weight.
To find 1, with this setup, we will use
e%uation (0). &e will do this by
changing F$ and Ff, and plotting them to
get 1 from the slope.
For - different hanging weights, add or
remove mass from m! such that when
gently pushed, the masses will move
with a constant speed. 7ecord F$ and Ff
and plot them to find 1, which will be
the slope. (8ou will also find the
uncertainty in 1.)
9e sure to record the uncertainties in
your measured %uantities.
Measuring the Acceleration
,et the incline to *5
o
. :a1e one movie
with many frames to measure a.
Analysis
6alculate the acceleration using e%uation
. and the already calculated value for 1.
"nclude a discussion section preceding
your data. "n this section, compare your
measurements of acceleration to the
predicted value from e%uation (.).
"nclude the boxed derivations on a
separate page.
m
!
m
1
"nstructor;s $otes
1. :ar1 bloc1 and trac1 so same
e%uipment can be used next
wee1. ( of wood about 5.10<5.!
either face)
!. :a1e sure they measure along
trac1. One way to do this is to
rotate the =ideo2oint axis.
*. :a1e sure they 1now that bloc1
goes down the incline.
+. $eed to do myself beforehand.
Their predicted and measured a;s
are off by a factor of two. >on;t
1now why. Fall !554' 2retty
sure the culprit is the coef of
friction. Acceleration is pretty
sensitive to this. ?ave them cal
amax / amin using mumax and
mumin (ignoring other
uncertainties).