In discussing the types of forces, a simple rule is used to determine if the force is a tensile or a compressive force. If an applied force on a member tends to pull the member apart, it is said to be in tension. If a force tends to compress the member, it is in compression. It should also be mentioned that ropes, cables, etc., that are attached to bodies can only support tensile loads, and therefore such objects are in tension when placed on the free-body diagram. In addition, when a fluid is involved, it should be understood that fluid forces are almost always compressive forces.

Friction

Another type of force often used in classical physics is the force resulting from two surfaces in contact, where one of the surfaces is attempting to move parallel to or over the other surface. Such forces are referred to as friction forces. There are two types of friction forces: those due to dry friction, sometimes called Coulomb friction, and those resulting from fluid friction.

Fluid friction develops between layers of fluid moving at different velocities. This type of frictional force is used in considering problems involving the flow of fluids through pipes. Such problems are covered in the Fundamentals Manual on fluid flow. In this section, problems involving rigid bodies which are in contact along dry surfaces are considered.

The laws of dry friction are best understood by the following experiment. A block of weight W is placed on a horizontal plane surface (see Figure 9). The forces acting on the block are its weight W and the normal force N of the surface. Since the weight has no horizontal component, the normal force of the surface also has no horizontal component; the reaction is therefore normal to the surface and is represented by N in part (a) of the figure. Suppose now, that a horizontal force P is applied to the block (see part (b)). If P is small, the block will not move. Some other horizontal force must therefore exist which balances P. This other force is the static-friction force F, which is actually the resultant of a great number of forces acting over the entire surface of contact between the block and the plane. The nature of these forces is not known exactly, but it is generally assumed that these forces are due to the irregularities of the surfaces in contact and also to molecular action.

Figure 9 Frictional Forces

If the force P is increased, the friction force F also increases, continuing to oppose P, until its magnitude reaches a certain maximum value F_M (see part (c) of Figure 9). If P is further increased, the friction force cannot balance it any more, and the block starts sliding. As soon as the block has been set in motion, the magnitude of F drops from F_M to a lower value F_K.This is because there is less interpenetration between the irregularities of the surfaces in contact when these surfaces move with respect to one another. From then on, the block keeps sliding with increasing velocity (i.e., it accelerates) while the friction force, denoted by F_K and called the kinetic-friction force, remains approximately constant.

Experimental evidence shows that the maximum value F_M of the static-friction force is proportional to the normal component N of the reaction of the surface, as shown in Equation 4-5.

The term ps is a constant called the coefficient of static friction. Similarly, the magnitude F_K of the kinetic-friction force may be expressed in the following form.

The term PK is a constant called the coefficient of kinetic friction. The coefficients of friction, ps and PK, do not depend upon the area of the surfaces in contact. Both coefficients, however, depend strongly on the nature of the surfaces in contact. Since they also depend upon the exact condition of the surfaces, their value is seldom known with an accuracy greater than 5 percent. It should be noted that frictional forces are always opposite in direction to the motion (or impending motion) of the object.