INTRODUCTION

Take a ball and roll it on the floor. Observe the motion of the ball. Does the ball
keep rolling or does it stop after some time?

You will observe that the ball rolls for a certain distance and
then comes to a stop. Why does the ball stop
rolling?

Your mother tells you not to run over a wet

floor as there are chances of slipping.

You have to continuously pedal your bicycle to keep it in

motion.

Have you ever wondered what might be the

cause for all these?

When the ball rolls, its surface rubs against the surface of the
floor. This rubbing together of the two surfaces gives rise to a
force that opposes the motion of the ball. This slows down the
ball and gradually brings it to a halt.

FRICTION
The opposing force that acts when one body moves on the surface of another
is called force of friction or simply friction. Friction
always opposes the motion between two surfaces.
When we rub our hands against each other, the
force of friction comes into play and opposes the
motion of the hands. This produces heat and our
hands become warm.

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Walking, writing, running and stopping of vehicles, etc. are all possible only
because of friction.

Cause of Friction
Most surfaces have a rough
texture.

When one surface is brought in

contact with the other surface, the
grooves on both the surfaces get
interlocked.Therefore, when one
surface moves over the other, the
interlocking between the grooves
of the surfaces oppose the motion
thereby causing friction.

Uses of Friction
Friction is the reason we are not slipping and sliding the entire place!
Friction is involved in our day-to-day activities.

● Friction makes walking possible

● Friction helps in applying brakes of

the vehicles.
● Football players have studs on shoes.
This prevents them from slipping.

● Friction makes writing possible. Pencils have lead made of carbon.

When we write, carbon particles rub from the lead and stick to the
paper due to friction.

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 ❖ Difficulties Caused by Friction
● Friction makes it difficult to move
heavier objects.
● Friction causes wear and tear. The
sole of our shoes wears out due to
friction between the shoe and the
ground.Tyres of vehicles and parts of
machines also wear out due to
friction.
● Friction can produce heat in various
parts of the machines.

How to reduce friction?

Though friction helps us in many ways, it also causes some problems. The
undesirable effects can be overcome by reducing friction.

Some of the ways of reducing friction are given below:

● Use of lubricating oil: Lubricating oil is applied on moving parts of

machines that move over one another.
● Use of wheels: Wheels make it easy to move heavy objects. That is why
suitcases nowadays come with wheels.
● Spraying some powder: Talcum powder reduces friction. Therefore,
before playing carrom we sprinkle some talcum to make the surface of
the board smooth one to reduce friction.

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 Put the different surfaces in order,starting with the least friction.
1._______________

2._______________

3._______________

4._______________