Could you imagine

life without
friction?
Generally people attempt to reduced or
eliminate the amount of friction between
certain objects for many reasons. This
might to stop specific items rubbing
together and wearing out, or heating up.
Friction is caused by two objects moving
against each other with the amount of
friction depending on how smooth or
rough the surfaces are. If the surfaces are
smooth, it would create little friction, but
if the surfaces were rough then more
friction is created Loxley, Dawes, Nicholls,
& Dore, (2014, p. 339).
Have you ever stopped to think about the
actions and events that occurred
throughout your day? Did most of them
involve friction? The answer would be yes.
The force of friction is used everywhere
without many people noticing how it
effects their everyday activities. From
riding a bike, writing and even lighting a
match would all be extremely difficult or
near impossible if it werent for friction. In
these cases, friction is very useful and an
attempt to reduce it would cause havoc.
With that said, what would happen if
there was no friction between the shoes
we wear and the ground? Why cant we
run with a flat, smooth, bottomed shoe?
The reason being that there would be no
grip between the shoes and surface,
therefore we would be sliding all over the
place! Have you ever tried walking on wet
tiles or plastic? There is very little friction
occurring between your feet and the tiles
or plastic as the water fills in the small
potholes that create the friction (Andrew
Radar Studios (2014). Sports shoes in
particular have been designed to include
many grooves on the outer soles so that
they maintain friction even while walking
on wet surfaces. Kurtus (2009) explains
that without friction between the shoes
and the ground, we would not be able to
walk. Friction is the force that hold the
shoe to the grounds surface, allowing the
shoe to grip so your foot can effectively
push from the ground to continue
walking.
Another action involving friction between
one object and a surface is driving. There
are many examples of friction force within
a car, however the most obvious is the
friction with the tyres and the road. This
example works the exact same way as
shoes do on a surface, even on wet
surfaces. Loxley, Dawes, Nicholls, & Dore,
(2014, p. 339) explain that the grip of the
tyres is due to the friction force between
the tyres surface and the roads surface,
which enables the vehicle to move
forwards. When water is on the road it
fills the gaps to create a smoother surface
which creates less friction for the tyres
and causes the car to slide (aquaplane).
Just through understanding this it is clear
that friction can be extremely important is
many ways, even in simple everyday
activities that we all do. Without the force
of friction, many things would be
impossible.
By Tamara Jorgensen.





Image by Tamara Jorgensen.