Question

Friction depends upon ____________ of surfaces.
A. mass
B. nature of the body
C. both A & B
D. none

Answer 1

Hint: Friction is an opposing force which comes into action when two bodies slide over another. Greater the force due to weight of an object, greater is the friction between two surfaces. It also depends on the characteristics of the surfaces which are sliding over one another.

Complete step by step answer:
Friction is a force which comes into play when two bodies slide over each other. When the bodies come in contact, they interact with each other on a microscopic level. In other words, we can say that friction opposes the motion of one body over another.
Underlying working principle of friction is that when two bodies come in contact with each other and try to slide over each other, their surface may not be smooth and may have bumps and uneven surfaces. This leads to jerky motion which is characterized as friction.
Now the friction between two bodies depends on the force with which they slide over one another. The mass of a body decides the gravitational force that one object applies on the other object. Therefore, greater the mass of the object, more is the friction due to weight of the object.
Friction also depends on the nature of the surface as the imperfections on the surface of a material lead to increase in the frictional force.
Hence, we can say that the friction depends on both the mass and the nature of the two bodies sliding over one another.

So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note:
The friction is not always an undesirable phenomenon in many circumstances can be reduced by different ways like removal of imperfections of the surface. If the nature of the surface is smooth then friction is less compared to rough surfaces.