In: Physics
The Forensics Lab of the New York City Police Department is interested in learning how to determine the coefficient of friction between two surfaces - the tires and the road. They need this information to help them relate the length of the skid marks to the speed of a vehicle before it started skidding. Your lab group, as a part of an interview process for a lucrative contract with the NYPD, is asked to devise a procedure to determine the coefficient of friction between the tire rubber, and the asphalt using a collision process. They also asked you to write a detailed report about the experiment so they can replicate it.
You come up with the following prototype of the experiment with cheap materials: A pendulum bob swings down from a horizontal starting position and hits a block. The block slides across the table and eventually stops. This process resembles a car collision, and the distance that the block slides on the table is similar to the skidding of a car after a collision. You decide to make measurements concerning the above process and use your physics knowledge to determine the coefficient of kinetic friction between the box and the tabletop.
1. Devise the mathematical procedure you will need to solve the problem.
2. Use the mathematical procedure you devised to calculate the quantities you need to solve the problem.