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3.6. Gravity

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Gravity would seem to be a significant factor in friction, as this is what makes the block heavy, but thinking differently about this shows that is it not that important.

First of all, there will be some gravitational attraction between two objects which will have a small part to play in how you can separate them. But it is so small that it is usually not worth considering.

But surely gravity plays big part in how difficult it is to move one object against another? This may seem to be true, but is only indirectly so. The weight of an object does not make it difficult to move, but it does change how the other forces above are working. For a heavy object the surfaces are pressed together more, requiring more fracturing to get things started and more bounce to keep it going.

Gravity is a contributor to the effects of friction, but it is not the real culprit and we need to be careful about how we treat this weighty subject.

Other sections in this chapter:

• 3.1. Bounce
• 3.2. Elasticity
• 3.3. Fracturing
• 3.4. Electrostatic Action
• 3.5. Viscosity
• 3.6. Gravity
• 3.7. Invention 'So What'?

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