Friction

Friction
Resistance encountered by one body moving over

another. a frictional force (F) is needed to cause motion: A. Rolling B. Sliding The two are not mutually exclusive, and even apparently pure rolling nearly always involves some sliding. The ratio between the frictional force and the normal load, is known as the coefficient of friction The coefficient of friction, is from about 0,1 (lightly loaded rolling bearing) to greater than 10 (clean metals sliding against themselves in vacuum). For comon materials sliding in air, 0,1 to 1

The laws of friction

Under some condition, for a pair of materials

and fixed conditions (or absence) of lubrication may be almost constant. The laws of friction: Amontons (1699), Leonardo da Vinci (1499) : 1. The friction force is proportional to the normal load 2. The friction force is independent of the apparent area of contact Coulomb (1785): 3. The friction force is independent of the sliding velocity

Pushing or Pulling A Big Difference

More Friction
Less Friction

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Coefficient friction is sensitive to a variety of factors:

Material composition

Surface finish
Sliding velocity Temperature Contamination Lubrication Humidity Oxide films

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As a result, for any two surfaces, 11may fluctuate over several orders of magnitude, varying with time and location.

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Measuring Friction

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"God made solids, but surfaces were made by the Devil."

Tabor (Ref 1) quotes W. Pauli

Indeed, surfaces are extremely complicated

because of their topography and chemical reactivity and because of their composition and microstructure, which may be very different from those of the bulk solid. Surface properties, composition, and microstructure may be very difficult to determine accurately, creating further complications.
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(D. Tabor, Status and Direction of Tribology as a Science in the 80's: Understanding