Noel Schutt » friction http://schutt.org/blog Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:15:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Physics and you http://schutt.org/blog/2009/12/physics-and-you/ http://schutt.org/blog/2009/12/physics-and-you/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:10:43 +0000 Noel http://schutt.org/blog/?p=494 Now that we’ve had the first dusting of snow for the season, it’s time for a friendly reminder of one reason everyone needs to understand some physics.

Static friction is greater than kinetic friction.*

In other words, if you aren’t sliding, it is easy to stay not sliding. Once you start sliding, it is hard to stop.

So stop stomping on the pedals when you drive. You’ll just make your wheels spin or lock and slide. When you spin your wheels, you are just turning the snow into an ice slick, making it harder for you and everyone after you to start or stop. So please go easy on the pedal mashing.

Suggested reading:

*Except for some cases you probably won’t encounter.

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