LAB EXPERIMENT 06

Student Name: ____________________________________

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ID No.

Signature of the lab tutor________________________

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Date:

To determine the co-efficient of static friction of a fabric on an

inclined stainless steel plane
Performance object:
Upon successful completion of this experiment, the student will be able to:
i) Understand what is friction and its behavior.
ii) Measure co-efficient of static friction on an inclined plane.
iii) Have clear concept of the static friction between two contacting surfaces.
Apparatus:
Inclined stainless steel surface with a frictionless pulley (attached to a wooden base).
Wooden block, Piece of String, Fabric to be tested, Weighting pan and weighting Box.
Discussion/Theory:
The friction is the force that opposes the motion or tendency of motion of an object when the
object is in contact with another object or surface. The magnitude of the frictional force F is
directly proportional to the magnitude of the resultant normal force N. The resultant normal
force is a contacting force because of which two surfaces in contact. When the contact of
two surfaces is horizontal, the magnitude of the normal force is equal to the weight of upper
body. Figure 6.1 illustrates the contact of two surfaces at certain angle(or at an inclination,
)
FN
Or
F= N

Figure 6.1
From Figure 6.1, we get
N= W cos
Mujahid Mehdi

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F= P-W sin
Therefore equation 6.1 is modified as,
=

P-W sin

(6.2)

W cos
Where
= Co-efficient of friction
P= Load on string
W= Weight of the block
= Angle of the inclined plane with horizontal=inclination
F= Resultant frictional force
Procedure/Method:
1. Cover the wooden block with the fabric to be tested in such a way that the surface of
fabric must be free from creases and weigh it, Weight of the block=W.
2. Place the wooden block on the inclined stainless steel surface of known inclination ,
attach the string on one side of wooden block , pass it over pulley and attach a
weighting pan on the other end of the string as shown in figure 6.2
3. Now place some weight on the weighting pan.
4. After placing some weight check friction of fabric surface on the horizontal stainless
steel surface by taping.
5. If wooden block moves by taping then note the magnitude of the load on string (P).
6. Calculate the co-efficient of static friction by using equation 6.2.
7. Repeat above procedure five times by increasing the weight of wooden block.
8. Calculate the average co-efficient of static friction.

Figure 6.2

Calculation:
Co-efficient of static friction = =

P-W sin
W cos

Average = /n where n is the number of observations

Mujahid Mehdi

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Test Report / Results:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Fabric Specifications.
Inclination.
Total weight of wooden block.
Total load on string.
Co-efficient of static friction ().
Average Co-efficient of static friction.

Fabric Specification:
(i) Material (fiber)
(ii) Construction
(iii) Condition (Grey/Treated/Dyed/Printed/Finished) if finished, specify type of finish

Observation
No.

Inclination=
Weight of Block
(radians/Degrees) = W (newtons)

Load on string
=P (newtons)

= P-W sin
W cos

1
2
3
4
5
Average

TEST RESULT / OBSERVATIONS:

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Mujahid Mehdi

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Review Questions:

1. What is the difference between horizontal and inclined plane?

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2. What is the effect of inclination on Co-efficient of friction?
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3. Write the application of friction in the field of textile?
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Final Checklist:
1. Clean your apparatus and workbench before you leave.
2. Keep the apparatus back to their proper places.
3. Submit your answers to questions and results before the next laboratory experiment
according to the time table.

Mujahid Mehdi

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