Why does the coefficient of friction not have units

1. In Part 1, did the force of friction on the shoe depend on the weight of the shoe? If the two are related, why are they? What is the slope of the line on the graph of force of friction vs. weight, and what does that number represent? Explain using your data.

Answer

The equation for the force due to friction is F=uN=umg

from this equation we can see that u is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force

The normal force is the weight of the object so N=mg

We can see the relationship from this equation

The more the force the more the friction since the force is higher the downward force is more thus the object .So the friction on the shoe does depend on the weight.

On our graph with force of friction vs weight the slope is basically the value on the y divided by the x axis values

Which in this case is the force of friction divided by the weight

From our values if we divide the force of friction by the weight we get the coefficient of friction

So the slope of the graph represents the coefficient of friction.

(8 points)

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2. Does an athletic shoe work better on a basketball court than a dress or dance shoe? Why or why not? Explain using data from Parts 1 and 2.

Answer: Friction depends on the nature of the surfaces and the force pushing the surfaces together. I believe the athletic shoes would work better on a basketball court when compared to a dress/dance shoes because the athletic shoes has a higher k value when compared to the dress/dance shoes, which causes a good grip between the court and the shoes and avoids sliding or slipping as the friction coefficient is higher as well as the consequent friction force. A lower coefficient of friction between the surface and shoes makes it uneasy for an athlete to perform as good as when there is a high coefficient of force as lower coefficient makes it more difficult as there are higher chances for the shoe to slide on the court. Shoes affect our performance and how we function. Also an athletic shoe would create more friction and also the surface of the floor will give you a coefficient of friction that varies with the combination of shoe and ground/floor.

(8 points)

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3. If you wanted the athletic shoe to slide faster on a surface, what might you do to the shoe? Provide at least two ways to make the shoe slide faster, and explain in terms of the force of friction and the coefficient of friction.

Answer: In order to allow the athletic shoes to slide faster on the surface we can either lubricate it by apply oil or grease at the bottom of the shoes, which causes a lower coefficient of friction which causes the shoes to slide off due to lower contact between surface and shoes. The other way to change the material of the soul of the shoes to a material, which causes a lower coefficient of friction.what we have to remember is to reduce the k value in order to allow the shoes to slide faster .