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Friction: Friend or foe?

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Friction: Friend or foe?

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  7–8


What part does the force of friction play in our everyday lives?

Friction can be an advantage (friend) or a problem (foe).

Join interviewer Doug Traction and professors Static, Slide, Rolling and Fluid at the National Tribology Research Centre as they have forceful fun investigating friction.

This video won a prize in the 2013 Sleek Geeks Eureka Science Schools Prize competition.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you played bowls, skidded to a halt or rubbed your hands together? Have you wondered why bald bicycle tyres are unsafe? These are everyday examples where friction is important. All involve two surfaces coming together. How does friction work in these examples?
  2. 2.What main types of friction are listed on the board? The book sitting on the unmoving table is an example of what friction type? How does Prof. Static summarise the action of forces there? What has to happen before the book moves? What causes the moving objects on the table to stop? Why does rolling friction have less friction than sliding friction? Does fluid friction relate only to liquid fluids? Note the final examples of friction.
  3. 3.Summarise the main types of friction. Illustrate and explain an example of each. Did the video help you to understand friction? Why or why not? Does the kind of surface affect how something moves on it? Design an experiment to find out. Think about how you will make it a fair test, how you will record your results, and how you will present your findings.
  4. 4.Make two lists, one of examples where friction is a problem and one of examples where friction is an advantage. Now choose an example from each list to investigate. Identify the type of friction involved. Explain in what way the problem of friction was reduced, or how friction was increased. Design a poster or make a digital presentation to report your findings.


Acknowledgements

This film was made by Sacha Balme, Nathan Gori, Jack Dougall, Reuben Shepherd and Billy Mcleod. It was the winner of the 2013 University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize, Primary.

The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes reward excellence in research & innovation, leadership & commercialisation, science communication & journalism and school science. More information is available here: australianmuseum.net.au/eureka


Production Date: 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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