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Unread 31-12-2002, 13:38
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Friction as a function of area

Here's a question I ran accross recently while trying to teach the build team everything they need to know...

In physics class, we are taught that the frictional force f is given by f=uN and we even verified this experimentally.

Now, this equation obviously doesn't involve area and our results from lab also showed that area didn't matter. However, as soon as two surfaces "stick" together, area does come into play.

My question is what is the equation relating area, u, and N? Is it just f=uNA? The units on this aren't correct, though. Also, how does one go about determining whether A is a factor? For example, hot rubber (such as Indy car tires) seem to care, but cool rubber doesn't.
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Last edited by rbayer : 31-12-2002 at 14:00.
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