The discussion centers on the nature of the force of friction and its classification as a non-conservative force. Participants clarify that while friction opposes motion, it does not behave like a conservative force, as evidenced by the non-zero curl of frictional force in certain scenarios. The frictional force is not a true vector field because it depends on multiple factors, including velocity and external forces, rather than solely on position. This complexity leads to challenges in applying vector calculus concepts like curl to friction.
PREREQUISITESPhysics students, mechanical engineers, and anyone interested in the dynamics of forces, particularly in understanding the complexities of friction in various contexts.
Because friction will always "oppose" the motion. In conservative field, the force both assists and opposes the motion when you make a round trip, thus net work done is 0.Andres Latorre said:I not understand because why if I have a (constant) force of friction and I apply the curl, I finding that this not is equal to zero, since this force is non conservative.
So a vector field is a field which evaluates to a single vector at each point in space. You can certainly restrict the space to cover a smaller region, that is not the problem with frictional force.Andres Latorre said:Thank you Dale. You could say that the friction force is a vector field, since it is not defined in the entire space ?. For example, in the case of a closed square trajectory, by analyzing the frictional force is being defined with different direction in each of the faces of the square, that force is not the same throughout the path could validates be another reason?
Yes.Andres Latorre said:The friction force is clearly not conservative, then it is expected that their work is non-zero for the closed path, which is actually true as shown in the calculation.
It isn't, but good luck.Andres Latorre said:I think that it is a vector field because below I calculate the curl of force and is nonzero