presents: What is Friction - Physics for kids
Friction keeps us from slipping and falling everywhere. It is the resistance formed between 2 surfaces in contact.
Have you seen someone slip and fall off a chair? Did it make you laugh? Imagine if we were constantly slipping of chairs and beds and stairs… life wouldn’t be very fun, would it?
Thanks to friction this does not happen. Everything would just keep slipping and falling all over the place if it wasn’t for friction. Friction is a force that is created when two surfaces move or try to move across each other. The amount of friction produced during this process depends on the texture of both the surfaces and the amount of contact force pushing the two surfaces together.
Friction always opposes the motion or attempted motion of one surface across another surface. As the two surfaces slide against each other, their contact is anything but smooth. They both grind and drag against each other, producing friction. You will find friction everywhere that objects come into contact with each other.
The force acts in the opposite direction to the way an object wants to slide. When you want to stop your bicycle, you press the brake and your bicycle slows down because of the friction between the brakes and the wheels. If you are running on a playground and hear your friend call you and suddenly want to stop, you can, because of the friction between your shoes and the ground.
Watch this interesting video to learn what is friction.
To know more about what is friction, read: mocomi.com/what-is-friction/
For more such physics articles and videos go to: mocomi.com/learn/science/physics/
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