[Physics] The coin drop experiment

experimental-physicsfrictionnewtonian-mechanics

There is an experiment called coin drop. You have a glass and a coin on top of a surface such as a paper. When you move the paper slowly the coin remains on it but when you move it really fast the coin drops into the glass.

I asked my teacher why is that and he said that it is because of Newton's First Law, but the law talks about objects with no forces acting on them and in this case force does act on the coin.

So I'm confused why when I move the paper slowly the coin keeps with it but when I move it fast it falls into the glass. If it's because of Newton's First Law then shouldn't the coin fall even if I move the paper slowly?

Best Answer

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M2, is the paper and M1 is the coin. We are exerting a rightward force $F$ on the paper. It's obvious that the paper moves because of the force we are exerting on it, and it's acceleration is decreased by the friction force between the coin and the paper.(The paper is going rightwards, but the coin is exerting a friction force to the paper, leftwards). Based on Newton's third, because the coin is exerting a force on the paper leftwards, the paper is exerting a rightward force on the coin too. That's the reason the coin will stick to the paper when you're pulling the paper slowly. But the question is what happens when we increase this force. Firstly, the static friction force can not exceed a certain value. Which means if $F$ gets too high, the friction force can not keep up with $F$ and at some point the acceleration of the paper becomes more than the coin. So the coin can not keep up with the paper. So after a while, the coin just slips and falls into the glass.


I want to calculate the minimum force $F$ so that it causes the coin to slip. Imagine the maximum static friction force between the paper and the coin is $f_{k.max}$. So the maximum force that can be exerted on the coin is $f_{k.max}$. Which means the maximum acceleration of the coin is:

$a = F/M1 = \dfrac{f_{k.max}}{M1}$

So if you want to make the coin slip on the paper, you have to make the system move with an acceleration more that $a$. Which means:

$F > a * (M1 + M2) => F > \dfrac{(M1 + M2)f_{k.max}}{M1}$

If the force is below this value, then the coin doesn't slip, because the force exerted on it is not above $f_{k.max}$ but if the force exceeds this value, then $M1$ can not keep up with M2.

Think of the coin and the paper, as a whole system, only when the acceleration exceeds some value, the system breaks.


Forces on the paper:

$\sum{F_{paper}} = F - f_{k} = M_2 * a$

Forces on the coin:

$\sum{F_{coin}} = f_{k} = M_1 * a$

And we know that:

$f_k \leq f_{k.max} => M_1 * a \leq f_{k.max} => a \leq \dfrac{f_{k.max}}{M_1}$

$=> M_2 * a + f_{k} = F, => F \leq M_2 * \dfrac{f_{k.max}}{M_1} + f_{k.max} => F\leq \dfrac{(M_1 + M_2)f_{k.max}}{M_1} $