normal force

[learnin to learn]

Can someone please help me to better understand normal force? I understand that normal force is the force that counteracts the applied force of a surface and an object. and I understand that normal force is perpendicular to the surface that is being acted on by another force (weight/gravitational pull of that object), but that is about it! Does normal force have any effect on friction, and what exactly is the purpose of normal force?

[Jay-qu]

The purpose? Well if it wasnt there to balance gravity then you would accelerate right through the floor.. it is the forces acting between the atoms in two objects stopping them from getting any closer.

Friction is equal to , where mu is called the coefficient of friction. It is affected by such things as the smoothness of the surfaces in contact. Hence for a given surface, the larger the normal, the greater the friction.