Question

What can you conclude about the characteristics of friction?

Answer 1

Friction can be characterised as the loss of mechanical energy by unwanted interconversion to heat at the point of contact of two separate surfaces.
It is also characterised as the opposition to motion of one body making contact with the surface of another body.
To sum it up, the two main characteristics of friction are:

1. Wear and tear caused at interface of two surfaces.
2. Heat produced at the point of contact of the two surfaces.
3. Friction is a force that acts in the opposite direction to the bodies motion.
4. Since friction acts in the direction opposite to motion it does negative work on a body to decrease the amount of kinetic energy it holds
5. Decreasing the kinetic energy causes the object to stop