III.

Analysis
During the lecture hours, the topic about Forces was discussed where there
are different forces acting on an object to determine the net force. The net force
consists of normal force, weight, tension and frictional forces. As we observe, all
objects that moves, can either be one way or another, experience an opposing force
that can be from air of from another body that is in contact. With this, the force tends
to retard the motion of the body.
The experiment given was about this law of motion by Newton and the main
cynosure here is friction. Then now, we tend to ask what is friction? Friction is
simply defined as the force that holds back the movement of a sliding object. But
friction is a broad topic too. Everywhere that objects encounter each other, you will
find friction. The force acts in the opposite direction to the way an object wants to
slide. If a car needs to stop at a stop sign, it slows because of the friction between
the brakes and the wheels. If you run down the sidewalk and stop quickly, you can
stop because of the friction between your shoes and the cement. We can encounter
friction everywhere.
Friction will always be part of our daily routine because every action and
move we take has friction force acting on it. In the field of engineering, friction plays
an important role in different disciplines such as in transportation and measurement.
In transportation, the brakes of the automobile always rely on the friction force
where the vehicle tend to slow down and convert its kinetic energy into heat as
shown in Figure 1. Using friction in transportation can ensure the safety of the people
and avoid car accidents that might happen due to the automobile breaks problem. In
terms of measurement, a tibometer was used to measure the friction existing on a
surface that can be a factor in determining the total frictional value of a system.
As we go deeper about the topic about forces, there was a force called friction,
a force that said to oppose the motion of the body. This force can be classified as
two (2) different conditions such as the static and kinetic friction. In the static
condition, the static friction also classified as the frictional resistance is greater to
the point where the motion of the body starts. On the other hand, the kinetic friction
takes place when the body moves and release a lesser amount of resistance.

Figure 1
The existence of friction between the contact surfaces can generates sound,
light and heat energy that can also be referred as the retarding force or drag force by
the means of air resistance.
The experiment aims to determine the coefficient of friction (µ) in different
surfaces connected as one body that moves. Also, it aims to establish the relationship
between the angle of repose (θ) and µ.
In terms of the theory, the frictional force is determined to be directly
proportional with the normal force that can be expressed as:
𝑓 ∝𝑁
𝑓 = 𝑘𝑁 (eqn. 1)
The value of k, the constant proportionality is said to be the coefficient of the friction
(µ). Thus:
𝑓 = µ𝑁 (eqn. 2)
 Figure 2

One of the objectives of the experiment was connected with the study of the
angle of repose or the limiting angle, θ in Figure 2. The angle of repose was
determined to be the angle between the horizontal and the incline where the body
slides down the incline due to its own weight in a uniform motion. For the
calculations, it was divided into the x and y-axis.
Along the x-axis: ∑ 𝐹𝑥 = 𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑓 = 0
Along the y-axis: ∑ 𝐹𝑦 = 0, 𝑁 − 𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 0
However, the coefficient of the friction µ was calculated using:
𝑓 𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
µ= = = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 (eqn. 3)
𝑁 𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

In addition, the coefficient of the friction was state to be equal to tan𝜃.

PART A. Determination of the Coefficient of Friction
TABLE 1a. Large side of the block
Total Weight of the Total Weight of the Coefficient of
Block (Wb) Pan (Wp) Friction
(µ)
88.8000 g 45 g 0.5068
93.8000 g 50 g 0.5330
98.8000 g 55 g 0.5567
103.8000 g 60 g 0.5780
108.8000 g 65 g 0.5974
Average Coefficient of Friction (µ) = 0.5544

In Table 1a, by determining the coefficient of friction on the large side of the
block in connection with the surface as the tension is the one who moves the block
from the hanging mass, the value calculated using the equation 3 as the coefficient
of the friction was determined to increase as both of the weight of the block and the
hanging mass increases that concludes the weight of both block and the hanging
mass to be directly proportional to the coefficient of the friction.

TABLE 1b. Narrow side of the block

Total Weight of the Total Weight of the Coefficient of
Block (Wb) Pan (Wp) Friction
(µ)
88.8000 g 50 g 0.5630
93.8000 g 55 g 0.5864
98.8000 g 60 g 0.6073
103.8000 g 65 g 0.6262
108.8000 g 70 g 0.6434
Average Coefficient of Friction (µ) = 0.6053

In Table 1b, the process in solving for the coefficient of its friction was similar
to the Table 1a also having a similar weight of the block that was used. As the
coefficient of friction on the narrow side of the block to the surface as the tension
from the hanging mass moves the block was calculated, it also increases as the
weight of the block and the hanging mass increases. It was still directly proportional
with each other despite of the condition of the blocks as illustrated in Figure 3.

PART B. Determination of Angle of Repose

TABLE 2. Angle of Repose
Vertical height Horizontal Tan 𝛉 𝛉
(h) distance (b)
50 cm 107.2253 cm 0.4663 25

In Table 2, the block slides at a height of 50 cm from the base of the iron stand
and the base was measured horizontally until the end point of the surface as 107.2253
ℎ
cm that will form a right triangle. Using the formula of tan 𝜃 = , the θ was
𝑏

determined to be 25º and it was the angle of repose. The coefficient of friction
obtained from the tangent of the angle of repose, based on the equation 3 and that is
0.4663.
In comparison with the computed coefficient of friction from the large and
narrow part of the first experiment, the value for the coefficient of friction obtained
from the angle of repose was lower with a percent error of 18.89% and 28.81%
respectively.
Error occurred in gathering data for the constant hanging mass for the large
and narrow side of the block because of inconsistency of values and motion of the
block. Both of the coefficient friction of the large and narrow side must be equal
since the contact surface area is not related with the coefficient of friction. The
friction was only calculated with the product of the coefficient of friction and the
normal force of the body and not related with the surface.
 DETERMINATION OF THE
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION
80

Total Weight of the Pan

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Total Weight of the Block

Figure 3
As the analyzation takes place, the source of error was the basis of uniform
motion of the block. In any case where the block move at a constant yet a slower
speed is pulled by a marginally lower pressure. This clarifies why a similar weight
could even move a heavier block.

IV. Conclusion
As for the objective of the experiment was to determine the coefficient friction
between different surfaces in contact as one body moves against the other with
uniform motion and establish the relationship between angle of repose and the
coefficient of friction, the coefficient of the friction should be constant for the same
object with different surface area that is in contact with the surface. The frictional
force was calculated only with the product of its coefficient and the normal force on
the body that is why the surface that the system encountered does not have any
connecting towards the frictional force. The tangent of the angle of repose was
verified to be equal to the coefficient of friction. As for the error encountered, it was
the basis of the constant motion was said to be the cause.