Exploring static friction

Y-component of applied force (positive up)
-10 N +10 N
2
X-component of applied force (positive right)
-10 N +10 N
0
Weight of the box
10 N +20 N
12

In this simulation, you see, on the left, a picture of a box at rest on a table. You can apply a force to the box - note that you set the y-component and the x-component separately. On the right, you can see the full free-body diagram of the box. The free-body diagram shows the gravitational force exerted on the box by the Earth, the normal force exerted by the table, the force that you apply, and, if there is one, the static force of friction. Note that, on the free-body diagram, the force of gravity and the normal force have been shifted horizontally a little so they can be seen more easily. If there is a net force, that is also indicated.

Creative Commons License
This work by Andrew Duffy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This simulation can be found in the collection at http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/classroom.html.

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