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How to Plot Friction & Gravity Force on a Graph

In physical sciences and engineering, the forces of gravity and friction are outside influences that affect the way an object moves and utilizes energy. The force of gravity causes acceleration toward a large mass (on Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 meters per second), while friction is defined as the force resisting the motion of objects. While these are both important forces to understand, they are rarely related, so plotting each of them on a graph would involve very different values for each axis.

Things You'll Need

Graph Paper
Ruler
Data

Instructions

Plotting Gravity
- 1
  Define the properties of the x- and y-axis. For example, if you were plotting the speed of a falling object due to gravity, the x-axis might show speed, while the y-axis would show height.
- 2
  Determine how best to plot the data. Because acceleration due to gravity is a constant, plotting speed against either height or time would let you show the relation between this constant and the rate of a falling object.
- 3
  Add each data point to the graph: for example, if an object is dropped, the first second its speed would be 9.8 meters per second; the next, its speed would double. Draw a dot or point at the spot where the two variables intersect.
- 4
  Connect the points you placed on the graph to make a line that demonstrates the direction of your data. This will show the connection between gravity and acceleration, because an object will increase in speed as it falls.
Plotting Friction
- 5
  Identify the variables you are working with, and which ones you want to plot. For a friction problem, you might have a number of variables, such as the mass of the objects, the coefficient of friction or the amount of energy required.
- 6
  Set up the graph, filling in variables for the x- and y-axis. For a graph that illustrates friction, you might make the x-axis friction and the y-axis the energy required to move an object. Another option might be to make one axis the mass of an object, and the other axis its coefficient of friction.
- 7
  Plot your data on the graph, drawing a dot to represent each intersection of variables. For example, if the force of friction was on the x-axis and the energy required to move an object was on the y-axis, you would draw a dot that reflected both pieces of information.
- 8
  Connect the data points to make it clearer how the information on the two axes relate to one another. For example, a graph showing the relation between coefficient of friction and mass might show the force of friction increasing as the mass increases.

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