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A study on kinetic friction: the Timoshenko oscillator
- Source :
- American Journal of Physics 86, 174 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Friction is a complex phenomenon that is of paramount importance in everyday life. We present an easy-to-build and inexpensive experiment illustrating Coulomb's law of kinetic friction. The so-called friction, or Timoshenko, oscillator consists of a plate set into periodic motion through the competition between gravity and friction on its rotating supports. The period of such an oscillator gives a measurement of the coefficient of kinetic friction \mu_k between the plate and the supports. Our prototype is mainly composed of a motor, LEGO blocks, and a low-cost microcontroller, but despite its simplicity the results obtained are in good agreement with values of \mu_k found in the literature.
- Subjects :
- Physics - Physics Education
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- American Journal of Physics 86, 174 (2018)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.1710.04481
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5008862