Question

What is the difference between the rolling friction and the sliding friction?

Answer 1

Hint: Friction is a kind of force which comes into play when there is a contact between two surfaces. The motion is not necessary for the existence of the friction. If a body is sitting idle on another body then there can be frictional force present. Friction is further classified into static friction, rolling friction and sliding friction.

Complete answer:
A body can have many kinds of motions such as pure translation or a pure rotation. But if a body such as a sphere or a cylinder is on an inclined plane and if it is allowed to move freely downwards then there can be either sliding or rolling or both sliding and rolling.
Rolling friction is the frictional force that occurs when one object rolls on another, like a car’s wheels on the ground. Rolling friction is a type of static friction because it comes into play when a body is in contact with some surface and it is rotating.
Sliding friction comes into play when one body slides over another body and it falls under the category of kinetic friction since the body is in motion.

Note:
We know that static friction is always greater than the kinetic friction, so, the value of rolling friction is higher than the sliding friction. The sliding friction is affected by many factors such as the weight of the sliding body and the stickiness of the two surfaces. Friction in some cases is of great use while in other places it is of great disadvantage to us.