Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: paul.fr on 13/07/2007 12:55:43

Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: paul.fr on 13/07/2007 12:55:43
is a limit beyond which the polishing of a surface increases friction rather than decreasing it.
Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: Karen W. on 13/07/2007 13:04:14
Wouldn't that depend entirely on the surface you were polishing and what kind of finish that surface has? Certainly with some things metals etc.. perhaps no difference but other things could wear finishes out and bring down to a less smooth surface I would think! I am not sure though!
Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: dentstudent on 13/07/2007 13:09:44
Yes. If you were using T-cut for example, you can get to the point where you're scuffing up the paint rather than removing dirt and oxidised paint.
Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 13/07/2007 13:28:06
Surely it depends on how polishing works; and I don't really know the answer to that.
Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: Karen W. on 13/07/2007 13:33:40
HMMMMM!
Title: Does polishing increase friction?
Post by: Soul Surfer on 14/07/2007 23:01:05
It depends on the nature of the surfaces.

In theory if you had two perfectly smooth clean surfaces of the same material and you pushed them together they would weld together because the surfaces were in such intimate contact that they welded.  You can get this happening between very flat glass plates like microscope slides when they are very clean and pushed hard together.

With dissimilar materials that is less likely to happen