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Friction
Friction reduces the efficiency of machines but it is also indispensable.
When you try to walk on ice, slipping and sliding ancl
perhaps falling down, you realize the importance of friction. Ice
has a low coejjicient oj jrction and that .iswhat makes itso difficult
to walk on. Without friction it, would be impossible to walk at all
and our trains and cars could not move.
There are three different kinds of mechanical friction: static,
sliding, and rolling. Static friction is the resistance to motion between
two bodies in contact but gt resto T~e resistance of static frietion
is greater than that of sliding friction which is resistance to continued
motion after one body has started to move. Rolling friction
occurs when resistance is reduced to its lowest degree by rotary motion
not on the same axis.
form of a bearing. They were efficient beca use they changed sliding
friction to rolling friction, thereby decreasing the effort necessary to
move the stones.
Reducing friction between
the parts of a machine is the
principal purpose of bearings.
Different types .have been designed
for use at various points
of contact to fit the kinds of motion
at work. Probably the most
familiar are ball bearings which