CENCO® AP Physics Lab 1.05: Determining the Coefficient of Friction

Measure the static and kinetic friction between two surfaces using direct and indirect methods.

Introducing the new CENCO AP Physics lab series!

Ideal for AP Physics 1 and 2, AP Physics C, IB DP Physics, and advanced/honors physics courses, each of the 35 experiments is aligned with the revised College Board AP curriculum. These innovative labs go way beyond traditional exercises, turning real-world scenarios into true guided-inquiry investigations. Students are given a goal, but the investigation is driven by their ideas. As they draw conclusions, students report their results using the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning model. The teacher guides and student manuals are authored and reviewed by AP Physics teachers with decades of combined experience, so you can trust the setups to be successful in your classroom. All labs come complete with instructions and materials for one lab group of 2 to 4 students. For your convenience, labs are packaged to allow you to purchase only what is required for each experiment.

Virtually every on-level physics student learns how to work with the coefficients of friction using a simple wooden block pulled by a string across different surfaces. This laboratory exercise requires advanced students to significantly extend their understanding by incorporating acceleration and inclined planes. Half Atwood machines and Modified Atwood machines are the foundation of popular and challenging AP Physics exam questions, and this lab gives students a hands-on opportunity to practice those skills.