How to Use frictional in a Sentence

frictional

adjective
  • This provides a frictional force and is the source of much of a tyre’s grip.
    — Laurie Winkless, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2021
  • This frictional force pushes the center of mass to the right.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2023
  • How much does the frictional force increase with each new loop around the cylinder?
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 22 Jan. 2015
  • The balls move without a frictional force and without rolling.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 17 Dec. 2021
  • As the tower bends, the blocks separate and lose the frictional force that holds them in place.
    — Popular Mechanics, 4 Jan. 2023
  • The cells flex to produce initial frictional forces, then cells crumple like a car bumper on impact.
    — Gregg Ellman Tribune News Service, Star Tribune, 12 Aug. 2020
  • The frictional force pushes to the left and underneath the center of mass.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Much like how your car’s brake pads work, Fred’s feet absorb all the frictional forces until the stones stop rolling.
    — Kyle Hill, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2013
  • Bubbles head up in the center where frictional drag from the glass is less and down on the outside as the top gets crowded.
    — Christian Millman, Discover Magazine, 28 May 2013
  • Finally, there is the frictional force (Ff) between the tires and the road.
    — Wired, 27 Aug. 2019
  • For that to happen, an external force has to be applied to overcome the frictional forces.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 23 Sep. 2019
  • Of course, at the start of the motion, this frictional force would be greater than the artificial gravity.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 14 May 2021
  • The hope is that the brakes won’t somehow otherwise burn out from overuse amid nonstop frictional forces being applied.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 May 2021
  • Experts say silk is a great option because the material is smooth and soft, which limits the frictional forces on the skin.
    — Michelle Pugle, Health, 13 Feb. 2023
  • The second block had a frictional force acting on it, whereas the rolling cart had essentially no friction.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 22 Aug. 2019
  • First, there's the static frictional force, which is the case when the two surfaces are stationary relative to each other.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 7 July 2023
  • This causes the water to move, but the frictional interaction also heats the water up.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2023
  • In Clark’s view, the purpose of the owl’s velvet and the fringes is to reduce frictional noise between the feathers while flapping.
    — Dana MacKenzie, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Apr. 2020
  • This noise is frictional, not aerodynamic, produced by the contact of solid against solid.
    — Dana MacKenzie, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Apr. 2020
  • An active sun causes a thicker atmosphere, which increases frictional drag on spacecraft and brings them down faster.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 Jan. 2026
  • But as in all subduction zones around the world, the movement builds frictional stresses between the two plates that result in frequent earthquakes.
    — Seth Mydans, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2022
  • This ball will essentially act like an object moving with a constant velocity since the frictional force is small.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Years of drought have killed tree roots, reducing their frictional ties to the soil, and weakened the general health of trees, McBride said.
    — Claire Hao, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2023
  • On the other hand, sidewinder snakes most likely phased out the spikes in favor of a smoother, frictionless belly that can move in any direction with no frictional drag.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Feb. 2021
  • At a certain velocity, the frictional forces such as drag and buoyancy equal the downward force of gravity and the object cannot go any faster.
    — Quanta Magazine, 26 May 2016
  • With only this tiny contact point supporting the pencil, the frictional force can't really exert any torque to stop it from rotating.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 8 Mar. 2021
  • The resulting calculation shows that the total frictional force on the atom is reduced but does not vanish entirely.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 23 Sep. 2019
  • But taken down to its coldest levels, a helium-4 superfluid knows no frictional boundaries.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 12 Oct. 2017
  • When cruising, the rear axles are disconnected to reduce frictional losses unless their traction is needed.
    — Houston Chronicle, 14 June 2019
  • When Quintanilla moves his hand across the screen, the TeslaTouch provides a frictional force on his finger.
    — Sushma Subramanian, Discover Magazine, 25 Aug. 2015

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'frictional.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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