ANL - The Problem with Friction Discussion

Respond to the discussion below. Answer all parts. Respond to two other students' responses.

Friction is sometimes useful, but often a nuisance.  A great deal of engineering goes into reducing friction in transportation and industry. By researching machining methods and developing lubricants we can reduce energy requirements and wear and tear on machines.  As technology advances to smaller and smaller machine, we discover friction is often not quite what we think it is, requiring even more advanced materials research.  Do some research to help answer the following prompts.

Prompts:

• What is the cause of friction?
• Discuss a time when you personally depended on friction and a time when you would have liked to reduce the friction present.
• In each case give an example of at least one way you could have increased or decreased the friction present.