Re: [Phys-l] friction

["Krishna Chowdary" <professor.head@gmail.com>]

On 10/19/06, Anthony Lapinski <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org> wrote:
> Does anyone know where I can find an extensive table of coefficients of
> friction? Specifically, I want to know the coefficient of kinetic friction
> for granite on ice (for a question about curling). Knowing the track
> length, one can determine the initial speed of the stone. I've searched
> the web for this value of mu, but could not find it.

I'm sorry I can't answer this question directly.  However, I wonder if in
this case, you might be better served measuring it yourself (lauch with
known speed, measure distance to stop, or equivalent).

Unless the coefficients you find reported anywhere also give you the
specific information about the surface area used to make the measurement, I
wouldn't trust them much for this calculation.  I know that in a simple
model of friction, we ignore surface area.  But especially when considering
sliding on ice, surface area is extremely important (ice skates vs. boots,
for example).

--
regards
-Krishna

Krishna Chowdary
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Bucknell University