Say we consider a simple experiment of balancing a wooden rod on two fingers. The finger on the left, (1), will remain stationary, whereas the finger on the right, (2), will be moved toward the left.

Consider the block shown above supported by feet at A and B that is at rest on a rough floor. A horizontal force P is applied to the right on the block. As the magnitude of P is increased slowly, two ...

I learned to respect friction, as a phenomenon with many nuances, when I was a graduate student. One day, while teaching a problem session in elementary mechanics, I unwisely invented a new problem to ...