Module 3 Physics

In Discussion Forum 2, post your response to the following discussion topic. Reply to at least two classmates’ responses by the date indicated in the Course Calendar.  

• A 5-kg fish swallows an absentminded 1-kg fish swimming towards it at a velocity that brings both fish to a halt immediately after lunch. What is the velocity of the smaller fish before it becomes lunch?
• Use the concepts of this chapter to describe what would happen if you fire a gun that has bullet ten times as massive as the gun.
• An apple falls from a tree and strikes the ground without bouncing. What happens to its momentum? Is momentum conserved?
• You and your friend toss a ball back and forth in the middle aisle of an airplane in flight. Does the kinetic energy of the ball depend on the speed of the airplane?

Written Assignment 3

Answer all of the following questions. Do not send in a partially completed assignment. Answer each question as completely as possible, but do not merely copy answers from your reading materials. If you cite a reference in the text, explain the meaning of the citation.

1. Define the term impulse.

2. Using the principle of momentum conservation, explain what happens when a moving billiard ball collides with a stationary ball (cue ball hitting the eight ball).

3. Explain the difference between energy and power and how they are related to work. Give examples of each.

4. A 1000 kilogram car is lifted 1 meter.
   1. What is the potential energy with respect to the floor?
   2. If the car is lifted 2 meters high, what is the new value of potential energy with respect to the floor?
   3. Explain the following: Potential energy of an object varies linearly with position (height).

5. As you catch a fast-moving fastball, why is it wise to move your hand in the direction of the ball’s motion? Explain in terms of work and energy.

6. If a sprinter running at a speed of 10 meters per second could convert his/her kinetic energy into upward motion, how high could he/she jump?

7. What various forms of energy are present as you shoot a bow and arrow?

8. Answer the following questions:
   1. If you push a lawn mower across a yard in 10 seconds, how does the work done compare with pushing it across the same yard in 20 seconds? Explain why. 
   2. How does the power for 10 seconds compare to the power for 20 seconds?

9. How many kilometers per liter will a car obtain if its engine is 25 percent efficient and it encounters an average force of 1000 Newtons? Assume the energy content of gasoline is 40,000,000 joules per liter (J/L).

Lab Exercise 3: Friction

• Follow the instructions and directions below for this lab.  Disregard the outline in the manual for your LabPaq Kit.
• Read this document entirely before starting your work.

• Do not forget to record your measurements and partial results.
• Submit a Laboratory Report through Moodle, as shown in the last section of this outline.  Remember that the Laboratory Report should include the answers to the questions below.

GOALS 

(1) To examine the concept of friction. 

(2) To calculate the coefficient of friction of an object.

INTRODUCTION

Friction is an important force, with positive and negative implications. Whenever two objects slide along each other, friction is involved; whether a skier is sliding down an icy slope, or a crate is dragged across the floor. On the positive side, friction between the road surface and the car tires is what keeps the car moving along a highway. On the negative side friction reduces the efficiency of machines. As more work needs to be done to overcome friction, this extra work is wasted as it is dissipated in the form of heat energy.

When one surface slides over another, a resisting force, friction, is encountered. Friction, and the force needed to overcome it depends on the nature of the materials in contact with each other and on the roughness or smoothness of the contact surfaces. It is also affected by the normal force (F_N), but not by the contact area or on the speed of the motion. It has been determined experimentally that the force of friction (F_fr) is directly proportional to the normal force (FN). When an object is resting on a horizontal surface the normal force is just the weight of the object (mg). If an object is on an incline, F_N has to be corrected via the equation F_N= mg cos θ with θ being the angle of the incline.  In this experiment, we will only measure friction on a horizontal surface, so we don’t need to concern ourselves with the issues affecting friction on an incline.

The constant of proportionality is called the coefficient of friction, μ. The force of friction when two contacting surfaces are sliding over each other can be calculated by:

where F_fr  is the force of friction;  F_N is the normal force; and μ_k or μ_s are the coefficient of friction, which is a proportionality constant. The force of friction is parallel to the contact surfaces and opposite to the direction of motion. The term μ_k stands for coefficient of kinetic (or sliding) friction, which applies when the surfaces are moving with respect to each other.

When an object is at rest on a surface and we attempt to push it, the frictional force is opposing the pushing force. As long as the pushing force is less than the friction force, the object will not move. There is a threshold value of the pushing force beyond which a larger pushing force will cause the body to start sliding. It is this threshold value which is related to the coefficient of static friction, μ_s.   However, when an object is already in movement, the friction that it experiences is related to its coefficient of kinetic friction, μ_k.   When comparing published μk and μs values for identical materials, we see that μs is slightly larger than μk .  This indicates that it takes more force to start moving a material than keeping it moving.

PROCEDURE

For purposes of data recording, we will use Newtons (N) as this is the unit of Force in the International Systems of Units. For the purposes of this experiment, we can convert any mass to force using the following formula:

Measurement setup

For each measurement setup described in this section, we will measure two forces.  First, we will measure the force that we need to exert on a wooden block so it starts moving from a resting position.  This force is related to the coefficient of static friction.  The second force is the force that we need to exert on the wooden block to keep it moving. This force is related to the coefficient of dynamic friction.

Because the wooden blocks in your lab kit are too light to produce accurate results, we will augment their mass by adding an object of constant weight, for example a can of soda. The experimental setup can be seen in figure 1 below.  You can use any other object that you may have around instead of the soda can.

         Figure 1:  Experimental  Setup

We will perform two types of measurements:

• Force of Static Friction  (F_s):  Starting from the block at rest, pull from the spring scale until the block starts moving. Record this force.

• Force of Kinetic Friction (F_k):  Starting from the block at rest, pull from the spring scale until the block starts moving and continue pulling until it moves at a constant speed. Record this force.

You should observe that F_k is lower than F_s. We will repeat these measurements using several materials as well as in different configurations for the wooden blocks.

SURFACES

Wood / Wood (larger surface)

For this case, we will use the larger surface of the wooden block as was shown in Figure 1.  Measure F_s and F_k as indicated in Section 3.1.   Run 5 trials, completing Table 1 below.

Wood / Wood (smaller surface)

For this section, turn the wooden block on its side as shown in Figure 2 and repeat the experiment, completing Table 2.

Figure 2:  Wooden block on its side  (courtesy of Chad Saunders, TESU student)

Wood / Glass

For this section, use the glass surface of your wooden block to repeat the measurements and complete Table 3.

Other surfaces

Repeat the measurements using other surfaces (for example, Wood / Sandpaper, Wood / Carpet, Glass / Carpet, etc.)  When completing Table 4 below, make sure that you indicate the surfaces you used.

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

LABORATORY REPORT

Create a laboratory report  using Word or another word processing software  that contains at least these elements:

• Introduction:  what is the purpose of this laboratory experiment?
• Description of how you performed the different parts of this exercise.  At the very least, this part should contain the answers to questions 1-8 above.  You should also include procedures, etc.   Adding pictures to your lab report showing your work as needed always increases the value of the report.
• Conclusion: What area(s) you had difficulties with in the lab; what you learned in this experiment; how it applies to your coursework and any other comments.