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	Vernier - Friction

Activity Overview

Students study how the nature of two materials in contact, and the smoothness of their surfaces affect the magnitude of the sliding force of friction. They use a force sensor to measure frictional force for different surfaces.

Before the Activity

Print the attached .pdf for each student. You will find one .pdf for DataMate and one .pdf for EasyData.

Activity Downloads:

(file types)

Vernier_Act31_friction_29.pdf
3807MSCALC-29-friction_EZ.pdf

During the Activity

Distribute the pages to your class.

Follow the Activity procedures:

Slowly pull the wooden block across a piece of wood with a smooth surface, and record the frictional force of used to pull the block

Slowly pull the wooden block across a piece of wood with a rough surface, and record the frictional force used to pull the block

Using the data recorded, predict the order of friction for the desktop, the floor, and sandpaper, and record the values in the data table provided

Measure friction as you pull the wooden block across your desktop, the floor, and sandpaper, and compare the values obtained with the predicted values

After the Activity

Review student results

As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging

Re-teach concepts as necessary

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