Question

To avoid slipping while walking on ice, one should take smaller steps because:
A. The frictional force of ice is large
B. Of larger normal reaction
C. The frictional force of ice is small
D. Of smaller normal reaction

Answer 1

Hint:The frictional force is determined by the roughness present on the floor. It is the coefficient of friction and the magnitude of the normal force acting on the foot. Hence we can find the reason for slipping while walking on ice and why we should take smaller steps to avoid slipping.

Complete step by step solution:
The frictional force differs according to the type of surface, if the roughness of the floor is large, then the scale of the frictional force will be more, on the other hand, if the roughness of the floor is less, then the scale of the friction will be small. The situation of slipping occurs when the quantity of friction existing on the floor is less. For example, ice is considered a slippery surface as it comprises very little friction.
The relation of the frictional force provides vital information about the factors on which the variation of frictional force is determined, so the relation of the frictional force is,
\[F = \mu N\]
here \[\mu \] is taken as the coefficient of friction and \[N\] is the normal force.
From the above relation, other than roughness, another factor on which friction completely depends is the magnitude of the normal force. The normal force is less if the steps are minor because a small step makes the angle between the foot and floor nearer to 90 degrees, which provides a high value of normal force.
Hence, option (C) is correct.

Note:
Smaller steps give us a larger magnitude of the normal force, and the extra normal force leads to a large friction force. But the larger steps provide less normal force, and it will affect in small frictional force magnitude. So as soon as we walk on a slippery floor, we must take small steps to avoid slipping. The reason is that the smaller steps guarantee the larger normal force. The relation of the normal force is governed by the cos component of the angle between floor and leg.