Jump to content

Blog lshads

A blog by lshads in General

  • entries
    40
  • comments
    17
  • views
    9,751

Friction

lshads

Entry posted by lshads

544 views

 Share

Friction is a pain in the butt when we look at kinematics problems. It is the main non-conservative force, meaning that it changes the total energy in the system. When fining net force or total energy, friction is always a tricky negative sitting in the dark to take points away from innocent physics students. The statement "if friction is negligible" yields an instantaneous sigh of relief, since our job just became that much easier. So why should the universe have friction at all? Well, with no friction, there is no fundamental way, other than air resistance, to reduce a net force. Every object would continually accelerate until it collides with another entity. So unless we all want to accelerate and bump into people forever, friction should probably stay for a while. It would be a pretty nice way to speed date, however.

 Share

1 Comment

Recommended Comments

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×

Terms of Use

The pages of APlusPhysics.com, Physics in Action podcasts, and other online media at this site are made available as a service to physics students, instructors, and others. Their use is encouraged and is free of charge. Teachers who wish to use materials either in a classroom demonstration format or as part of an interactive activity/lesson are granted permission (and encouraged) to do so. Linking to information on this site is allowed and encouraged, but content from APlusPhysics may not be made available elsewhere on the Internet without the author's written permission.

Copyright Notice

APlusPhysics.com, Silly Beagle Productions and Physics In Action materials are copyright protected and the author restricts their use to online usage through a live internet connection. Any downloading of files to other storage devices (hard drives, web servers, school servers, CDs, etc.) with the exception of Physics In Action podcast episodes is prohibited. The use of images, text and animations in other projects (including non-profit endeavors) is also prohibited. Requests for permission to use such material on other projects may be submitted in writing to info@aplusphysics.com. Licensing of the content of APlusPhysics.com for other uses may be considered in the future.

APlusPhysics Books

APlusPhysics Books

×
×
  • Create New...