Title and abstract

 Investigation of the Coefficient of Friction of 6 Different Surfaces

Evan Leong Zhi Yang , Oliver Sheo Chiong Jin

Abstract:

The question we wanted to answer and investigate is how the roughness of the surface affects the coefficient of friction. We aimed to evaluate the coefficient of friction of 6 different surfaces and materials, styrofoam, plastic covering, sandpaper, wooden veneer, cloth and corrugated plastic board. We can investigate this by using the following set-up, a wooden block attached to a string in a pulley system with interchangeable weights attached to the other end of the string. By slowly changing the weights on the end of the string, and waiting for the object to move, we can have two different data sets between two different weights of objects.

Out of all 6 of the surfaces measured, sandpaper has the highest coefficient of friction.  With this set of data, many companies can accurately determine what material to use for different types of products, like the grip tape for different skateboards, the wood veneer used for flooring so you would not slip and fall as easily. Not only can this benefit the companies, but it can benefit you too as the companies you are already buying from now have better, more reliable products of high quality.