Whenever an object slides over another, there is a force developed at the interface called sliding friction. Sliding friction only occurs when the interaction between the two bodies is of a sliding nature, not rolling, or at a distance (non-contact). Have you ever wondered why you have to rub a matchstick on a paper to generate fire, how forest fires are created, etc.? These are all examples of sliding friction. In this article, we discuss 10 examples of sliding friction in detail.
Examples of sliding friction
- A wooden box pushed across the floor
- Someone sliding on a wet floor or falling down on a slippery floor
- Ironing a cloth
- A long jump athlete slides across the sandpit
- Sliding a casserole across the dinner table
- Kids playing on a playground slide
- Strick a matchstick across a rough surface to generate fire
- Holding onto objects, or gripping onto things
- Rubbing of palms to generate heat in winter climates
- Tug of war
- Wiping action, like that of a wiper.
Let us discuss each one of the examples in detail:
A wooden box pushed across the floor
A wooden box or any box, if pushed across the floor, will generate sliding friction. Have you ever pushed a box or any object without any resistance? It is difficult. It is like a force is stopping us from the other side, this is sliding friction. If we attach some rollers and convert this into rolling friction, then the value of friction decreases and it becomes easy to move, but this is an example of rolling friction then.
Someone sliding on a wet floor or falling down on a slippery floor
What happens when we slip, we fall down, and injure ourselves? Why do we injure ourselves? Because friction opposes our sliding down on the floor, we get wounded. Why do we slip in the first place? It may be a lack of balance or less friction that causes us to lose our grip on the floor and hence slip down.
Ironing a cloth
You must have noticed that while we iron our clothes, we try to apply as much pressure as possible and slide the iron box on the cloth. The more pressure we apply, the more difficult it is to move. This is because the sliding friction is directly proportional to the normal force.
A long jump athlete slides across the sandpit
In the long jump, an athlete tries to jump the maximum distance, and in turn, while landing, they slide in order to avoid any injury. This involves sliding friction, and hence they have to plan their landing carefully.
Sliding a casserole across the dinner table
Have you ever slid a casserole across the dining table? Or maybe a glass of water. You do so with some pressure right? This is due to the sliding friction, which opposes the motion of the object on the table. Generally, we slide our plate on the table to adjust its position.
Kids playing on a playground slide
Have you ever slid on a playground slide when you were a kid? probably yes. This is an example of sliding friction. Here, the sliding friction allows the kids to enjoy the ride and, at the same time, ensures that they don’t fall down immediately.
Strick a matchstick across a rough surface to generate fire
Have you ever lit a match stick? You might know that you have to stick it against a special type of paper to generate fire. The sliding friction between the paper and the matchstick head creates a chemical reaction that causes the fire. Friction is a necessary evil, so sometimes such sliding friction can lead to unwanted fires like forest fires, etc.
Holding onto objects, or gripping onto things
When you grip things like your mobile phone or your bag you are using the sliding friction between your hand and the object to make sure that the gravitational pull of the earth is negated. You have to apply a certain normal force to stop the gravitational pull force. Though this is an example of static sliding friction, it still falls under the category of sliding friction. We overcome the limiting friction by applying a mechanical force to stop the object from slipping.
Rubbing of palms to generate heat in cold climates
This is another example of heat generation by sliding friction. The heat generated by rubbing the palms of our hands can be used to keep us warm during cold climates.
Tug of war
Have you ever played the game of tug of war? You might have noticed that there is a lot of slipping happening. The grip that we maintain is very important. The grip between our legs and our ground is ensured by good sliding friction. Even the grip of the rope on our hands is also due to sliding friction. Tug of war is a very good example to study sliding friction. You can see this simulation to learn more about tug-of-war.
Wiping action, like that of a wiper.
A wiper as you might have seen, slides over the windscreen to wipe off the rainwater. You might also recollect the sound associated with the wiping action of the wiper. This is due to the sliding friction between the wiper and the windshield.
