Coefficient of Friction of Shoes in Different Temperatures

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion centers around the impact of temperature on the coefficient of friction for various shoe brands, as part of a science fair project. The original poster has conducted experiments and gathered results but seeks to understand the underlying reasons for their findings.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the necessity of results for drawing conclusions and question the effects of shoe wear over time on friction. There is also exploration of how different temperatures affect the coefficient of friction in shoe soles.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster's queries, suggesting ways to present data and emphasizing the importance of machine-readable formats for analysis. There is ongoing dialogue about the experimental setup and the need for clarity in results.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions conducting two labs with varying temperatures, but there is some confusion regarding the data presentation and the conclusions drawn from the experiments. The discussion includes technical challenges related to data formatting and sharing.

  • #31
Ok, do you still have the data? It's generally good practice to present more data rather than less (to an extent). So for the representation of the data, I would take the average, and draw a graph with that, but then plot your actual points on the same graph.

And the normal force measurement?
 
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  • #32
I only have the data for fridge and oven not freezer or room so i decided not to present it. And no i was testing frictional force. The labquest would look at frictional force and i would divide the static frictional force divided by the normal force (weight from the labquest reading) to get the coefficient of static friction.
 
  • #33
Ok then. I would just suggest that you be more descriptive when you present your data. Explain how you actually took each measurement.

If I were a judge, I would be pretty impressed if a presentation actually described how the equipment worked. That being said, it sounds like this force meter you're using probably has a spring in it, attached to the hook, does it? Is that important to how the device works?
Make sure you talk about discrepancies. Was your hypothesis correct? If it wasn't, why do you think that is?
 
  • #34
That sounds like a good idea Ill find out and get back to you. But I still have minimal about the conclusion. I was thinking on of the conclusions could be that the mesh/rubber stuff (not sure what is called but will try to find out) is the worst out of all the shoes and isn't a good shoe for friction. I could also say how all the shoes seemed to perform better in room temperature and colder areas than the hotter areas. They all performed badly in the hot areas. Any other ideas on that? To present all my data would it be better to show it in bar graphs or graphs like I showed you guys. Like graphs that are like a bar graph for the fridge,freezer,oven,room temperature and then bar graphs for each individual shoe?
 
  • #35
I would present the data as you gathered it. You didn't check the shoes in hot or cold areas. You checked hot and cold shoes in room temperature, so heating/cooling the material the shoe is made of seems to make an impact on the coefficient of friction. One descrepency with that though, you tested room temperature shoes in room tempurature, and they did relatively well; however, you tested hot shoes and cold shoes in room temperature as well. Do you think it would make a difference if the surface (i.e. environment) was at the same temperature as the shoe? If so you might want to say that.

Bar graphs are easier when you have a lot of data, which you don't have. That being said, in my opinion, it doesn't really matter how you present it. You have a small enough amount of data that it shouldn't make to much of a difference. Either way, I would make sure to plot ALL the data, as well as the average (which is all you gave us) and make sure they know that it's not a trial value, but the average.
 

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