UNIVERSITY COLLAGE OF TECHNOLOGY SARAWAK
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
EEM3951
ENGINEERING LABORATORY 1 LABORATORY
REPORT
LAB CODE SM 1
EXPERIMENT TITLE FRICTION ON INCLINE PLANE
GROUP NO 1
1) AARON MARVIN ANAK VINCENT
2) GARY PETERSON ANAK TEGONG
NAME 3) AMELDA DIANA ANAK TONY
4) JOSHUA JIMBAT ANAK NANTA
5) KWAN KAH ZHENG
1) BME22090001
2) BME22090002
ID NO 3) BME22090003
4) BME22090007
5) BME22090008
DATE OF EXPERIMENT 17/10/2022
DATE OF SUBMISSION 24/10/2022
LECTURER Dr. Irina Wong
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
No. Topic Page
1. Objective 3
2. Theory & Introduction 3
3. Apparatus/Experiment Setup 4-6
4. Safety Precaution 6
5. Procedure 6
6. Results 7-8
7. Discussion 8-10
8. Conclusion 11
9. References 12
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TITLE: FRICTION ON INCLINE PLANE
OBJECTIVE
To determine the coefficient of friction of mild steel, brass, and copper over a copper surface.
INTRODUCTION
The force that resists the relative motion created when one item slides over another is known as
friction. The friction that generates between a stationary object and the surface it is lying on is referred to
as static friction. Friction operates parallel to the surface that the object is sliding on and in the opposing
direction of the motion. The materials that the objects in contact are made of have a significant role in
friction. The surface area that makes contact with another item is unrelated to the coefficient of friction.
(Austin Ciervo, 2018). Any plane surface that is positioned at an angle to the horizontal plane is said to
be an inclined plane. It may also be described geometrically as a right-angled triangle, in which the base
is a horizontal plane, the perpendicular is a vertical height, and the hypotenuse is an inclined plane. The
inclined plane is made up of two parallel plates or surfaces that are hinged together for experimental
purposes and may rotate along the same axis as the horizontal plane. The inclined plane is given a pulley
system for various motion-related studies and smoothened to reduce the impacts of friction. A simple
machine with no moving parts is an inclined plane. It's just a surface that slopes evenly. Inclined planes
are crucial because they make moving goods to a greater height simpler. As the objects are moved up the
slope, some of their weight is supported by the inclined plane's sloping surface. As a result, moving the
thing upward requires less force. (eschooltoday, n.d.)
Diagram 1
Based on the diagram 1, two forces, W cos and W sin, which act parallel to and perpendicular to
the inclined plane, respectively, make up the gravitational force. When the body is motionless, the
former force is identical to the N, whereas the latter is equivalent to static friction. The natural response
tends to approach the body weight as the angle of inclination decreases. A dimensionless number that
expresses how challenging it is to move a certain object against a certain surface is known as the
coefficient of friction. Frictional force always works against an object's motion. Its direction is therefore
the inverse of the velocity. Therefore, the weight of the item and the frictional force preventing the
movement are the two forces that must be taken into consideration. (IvyPanda, 2022).
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HYPOTHESIS
Different surfaces have different coefficients of friction.
APPARATUS
1. A copper surface which can be inclined at an angle to the horizontal.
2. Three carts have different base materials which are copper, brass, mild steel for placing weights.
3. A set of load weights metal with different mass which is 5N and 10N.
4. Rope to tie the load weight metal.
Brass Cart Copper Mild Copper Load weight Friction of
Load weight
Surface Steel Cart Cart metal hanger incline plane
metal sets
Diagram 2: Apparatus of Friction of incline plane
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ATTACHMENT
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Incline Surface /
Sliding Surface
Pulley
Protractor
Base
Adjustable
Figure 1: At The Start of the Experiment
Figure 2: During Experimentation
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F
α
Figure 3: θ is the angle between W and P
SAFETY PRECAUTION
1. When releasing the weight of the hanger with weight load metal, we need to be careful of our
legs to avoid accidents happening.
PROCEDURES
1. Apparatus was set up
2. The locking knob was loosened
3. Plane was adjusted so that the pointer is at 20 degrees
4. A spirit level was placed at the center of the plane
5. Feet of the apparatus was adjusted so that the plane is level.
6. The friction surface was screwed to the plane
7. A card was chosen and a cord was tied at the hook
8. The cart was placed on the friction surface
9. The cord was pulled over the pulley and a load hanger was hung at the end of the cord
10. A weight was placed in the cart to simulate the vertical load on the friction surfaces
11. Weights were placed on the load hanger until the cart begins to move up the plane.
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RESULT
Cart No.1
This table shows the result of by using copper surface cart.
Material: Copper
Weight of Cart, WC: 681.8g / 6.69 N
Weight of Hanger, PH = 0.3N
Angle of the incline surface to the horizontal: 20°
Table 1: Weight on the Incline Surface and Effort Load
Weight In Cart, Total Weight On Weight on the load Total Effort Load,
Incline Surface, hanger (effort load, PA) (PA + PH) (N)
WA (N) (N)
WC + WA (N)
5 11.69 10 10.3
10 16.69 15 15.3
15 21.69 20 20.3
20 26.69 30 30.3
25 31.69 30 30.3
30 36.69 30 30.3
Cart No.2
Material: Brass
This table shows the result of by using brass surface cart.
Weight of Cart, WC: 667.3g / 6.55N
Weight of Hanger, PH = 0.3N
Angle of the incline surface to the horizontal: 20°
Table 2: Weight on the Incline Surface and Effort Load
Weight In Cart, Total Weight On Weight on the load Total Effort Load,
Incline Surface, hanger (effort load, PA) (PA + PH) (N)
WA (N) (N)
WC + WA (N)
5 11.55 10 10.3
10 16.55 15 15.3
15 21.55 15 15.3
20 26.55 20 20.3
25 31.55 25 25.3
30 36.55 30 30.3
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Cart No.3
Material: Mild Steel
This table shows the result of by using mild steel surface cart.
Weight of Cart, WC: 640.7g / 6.29N
Weight of Hanger, PH = 0.3N
Angle of the incline surface to the horizontal: 20°
Table 3: Weight on the Incline Surface and Effort Load
Weight In Cart, Total Weight On Weight on the load Total Effort Load,
Incline Surface, hanger (effort load, PA) (PA + PH) (N)
WA (N) (N)
WC + WA (N)
5 11.29 10 10.3
10 16.29 10 10.3
15 21.29 15 15.3
20 26.29 20 20.3
25 31.29 25 25.3
30 36.29 30 25.3
DISCUSSION
The higher the effort load, the higher the coefficient of friction. The higher the load on the
inclined surface, the higher the coefficient of friction. The higher the angle of inclination, the
higher the coefficient of friction.
Graph 1 (Copper Cart) Graph 2 (Brass Cart)
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Graph 3 (Mild Steel Cart)
The graph above show the relationship between weight on inclined surface, and effort load. From graph
1, the reading shows at 11.69 N to 21.69 N the effort load needed is rising steadily from 10 N to 20 N.
However the reading rise drastically after 21.69 N to 26.69 N till it rest up to 36.69 N with the effort load
maintained at 30 N. In graph 1, the coefficient of friction, μ for the first slope is 0.7 whereas for the second
slope is 1.76. For graph 2, with the weight of 11.55 N to 16.55 N readings shows the increasing linearly with
effort load up to 15 N. The reading remain constant until it rising between the weight of 21.55 N to 36.55 N
with highest load put is 30 N. the coefficient of friction gain from this graph is 0.7 for both slope. Graph 3
shows constant reading from initial weight of 11.29 N to 16.29 N with 10 N effort load. However, from
16.29 N up to 36.29 N the reading increasing proportional to the effort load of 10 N to 30 N. The coefficient
of friction gain from this graph is 0.7.
Calculation coefficient of friction
Cart 1 : Copper
20 − 10
C= =1
21.69 − 11.69
C = (sin α + µ cos α )
1 = sin 20° + µ cos 20°
µ = 0.7
30 − 20
C2 = =2
26.69 − 21.69
2 = sin 20° + µ cos 20°
µ = 1.76
2
Cart 2 : Brass
15 − 10
C= =1
16.55 − 11.55
1 = sin 20° + µ cos 20°
µ = 0.7
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30 − 15
C2 = =1
36.55 − 21.55
1 = sin 20° + µ cos 20°
µ = 0.7
Cart 3: Mild Steel
30 − 10
C= =1
36.29 − 16.29
1 = sin 20° + µ cos 20°
µ = 0.7
20 − 10
𝐶𝐶2 = =1
26.29 − 16.29
1 = 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠20° + 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇20°
𝜇𝜇2 = 0.7
The coefficient for all carts is more or less the same with 0.7 except the second slope which gained from
the cart 1 reading with 1.76. This happen maybe because the surface of copper on the cart may have higher
friction compared to mild steel and brass. The normal force also may affect the friction of each material of
the carts.
The result will be different should the surface of inclined plane be changed with other material
because different material has different stiffness (friction value). The weight on inclined surface act as the
normal force also influence the result as well as the degree of the inclination of the plane. There are some
possible sources of error that may happen during the experiment. Some of which the parallax error, when
adjusting the angle of the inclination to 20̊. This error can be prevented by viewing the angle in parallel of
the protractor or using larger scale of protractor. Human error also might happen when holding the cart
while putting the effort load which can apply force to the carts making it slightly moving from the middle
point of the plane. This error can be reduced by putting on barricade behind the carts.
The factors that influence the results of this experiment are the weight on an inclined surface, the
bottom surface of the cart, different materials have different friction, the angle of inclined plane. Yes, we
expected the result to change of the incline surface is made of other material is because different material has
different stiffness (Friction value). The findings from this experiment is the coefficient of friction is directly
proportional to the frictional force and inversely proportional to the normal force acting on the cart, given by
constant angle of incline plane. They are some possible sources of errors which is parallax error when we
trying to adjust the degree of incline to 20°. Other than that, instrumental and measurement error as the
choice for effort load has limited choice of weight. Besides that, human error as when we hold the cart while
putting on the effort load, we might have moved the cart slightly forward from the middle point.
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CONCLUSION
Hypothesis is accepted. The experiment's objective was fulfilled since the forces acting on an inclined
plane were determined and a relationship between the inclination angles was established. To improve
this experiment results be more precise, we needed lighter load weight metal which is 0.5N, 1.0N, 2.0N
and so on.
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References
Austin Ciervo (2018). Friction on the inclined plane. Retrieved from https://www.studocu.com/en-
us/document/university-of-north-texas/laboratory-in-mechanics/exp5friction-and-the-inclined-plane-lab-
report-austin-ciervo/3180715
Eschoolday (n.d.). The incline plane. Retrieved from https://eschooltoday.com/learn/the-inclined-plane/
IvyPanda (2022, April 26). The Inclined Plane: Physics. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-inclined-plane-
physics/
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