Good morning Year 5. We hope you enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend. It’s Monday and that means Science. If you haven’t already, take a look at the Science warm up.
Today, it’s all about friction.
True or false? Look at the statements below. Which are true? Which are false?
- Friction is a force.
- Friction is stronger than gravity.
- Friction slows moving objects down.
- All surfaces create friction on an object moving over them.
- Friction produces heat.
- Friction is always a useful force.
See the bottom of the page for the answers.
Friction is a force between two surfaces that are sliding, or trying to slide, across each other. Friction always works in the direction opposite to the direction in which the object is moving or trying to move. For example, if you tried to push a book across the floor, friction would make this difficult.
All surfaces create friction. Which surfaces do you think create the most friction, rough or smooth?
Watch the video which will explain a little more about friction. Also, you will see some children carrying out an experiment to see which surface will slow down a toy car the quickest.
Which material slowed down the toy car the quickest?
Friction experiment
Now that you have watched the video, you may want to recreate the experiment at home.
You will need a toy car (or a toy with wheels) and at least two difference surfaces e.g. kitchen floor and carpet or rug. If you can create a slope, that’s even better! Could you create a slope using a book that leans on a pile of books? Take a look at the picture of the slope on a pile of books.
Before you carry out the experiment, predict which surface will slow down the car the quickest.
Push the car on the surface or let it go down the slope.
Measure how long it takes to stop. If you don’t have a ruler, you could use some string to measure or work out where it stops in relation to other objects in your house.
Remember to keep it fair. Try out the surface at least three times.
Send us your results!
Now, if you have time, watch a friction experiment on ski slopes. As you are watching, remember to make predictions and then see if your predictions were correct.
Were your predictions correct?
Over the coming week, why don’t you look out for friction in action? Post your observations on the website.
Have a lovely day!
Here are the answers to the true or false activity.
The statements in bold are false.
Friction is a force.
Friction is stronger than gravity.
Friction slows moving objects down.
All surfaces create friction on an object moving over them.
Friction produces heat.
Friction is always a useful force.