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Weekend


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March 3, 2006

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Why is ice so slippery? Better watch your step on this one... a) pressure melting puts water underfoot b) frictional heating under skis or skates creates the glide c) it's just ice's icy nature

    A. a) and b) used to be given, but it's now known that the pressure under a walker's boots or the friction of skate blades against ice doesn't play much of a role in melting, reports "Physics Today." As early as the 1850s Michael Faraday tested ice cubes that were sticking together and concluded that ice surfaces must just inherently consist of a thin film of water, at whatever temperature. So mark c).


     
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