Answer to Question #137219 in Mechanics | Relativity for Viccy

Question

What is friction explain through examples.

Answer 1

Friction is the reason that makes rolling objects slow their speed and stop. Friction is the factor that heats any parts moving relative to each other. Friction is one the factors that contributes to the difference between theoretic and practical values in experiments.

Friction is caused by the forces of intermolecular interaction between surfaces in contact: if we look closer at these surfaces, we will see that even the smoothest ones are quite rough under microscope. This roughness is a product of billions of molecules arranged one way or another. When the surfaces move, the molecules "catch" on each other because the forces make molecules of one surface attract to molecules of another surface. We call this friction.