Why can we skate on ice? Image of the Dutch team pursuit speed skating team (Jan Blokhuijsen, Koen Verweij and Sven Kramer) at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics by Andrew Schutzman.
Why can we skate on ice? Image of the Dutch team pursuit speed skating team (Jan Blokhuijsen, Koen Verweij and Sven Kramer) at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics by Andrew Schutzman. With the temperatures outside below zero and the speed skating world championships around the corner, ice is on everyone's mind. One thing we all know: ice is slippery - but why? This seemingly simple physics question turns out to have a remarkably intricate answer. In a new publication that appeared in Physical Review X this week, a group of UvA physicists shed new light on how temperature, pressure and the speed of the skater combine to make it possible to skate on ice. As most people have experienced - either by accident or when wearing ice skates - ice is exceptionally slippery. The question why this is the case remains unanswered however, even after 150 years of research on the topic. An important step towards the answer has now been made by physicists from the University of Amsterdam: the slipperiness of ice is caused by highly mobile water molecules at the ice surface.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
