eli5 how ice is slippery. Is it being a solid with a little bit of water on it?
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Yes, it has an extremely thin layer of around 1 nanometer of liquid water.
The thickness of liquid water is a property of ice at this temperature and pressure (though the pressure effect is tiny), so it doesn’t change as you move on it. You can deform the ice by moving this water, but you can’t change the thickness significantly (it will change a little as you generate heat through friction and change the temperature, and also change by an extremely low amount due to changes of pressure).
Also, this layer of water exists down to a temperature of -100°C and doesn’t need pressure or friction to be generated. It is generated because at any given temperature, there are always some molecules that have more energy than others. The ones with the highest energy are mobile and therefore liquid. It increases in size as you get closer to 0°C. Though it’s the most slippery at -7°C because at high temperatures the ice becomes soft and energy is lost by the ice getting deformed under your weight.
https://www-vox-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/2/13/16973886/why-is-ice-slippery?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16763254515886&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fscience-and-health%2F2018%2F2%2F13%2F16973886%2Fwhy-is-ice-slippery
https://www.zmescience.com/science/ice-slippery-h-bonds-8731058/
Yes, it has an extremely thin layer of around 1 nanometer of liquid water.
The thickness of liquid water is a property of ice at this temperature and pressure (though the pressure effect is tiny), so it doesn’t change as you move on it. You can deform the ice by moving this water, but you can’t change the thickness significantly (it will change a little as you generate heat through friction and change the temperature, and also change by an extremely low amount due to changes of pressure).
Also, this layer of water exists down to a temperature of -100°C and doesn’t need pressure or friction to be generated. It is generated because at any given temperature, there are always some molecules that have more energy than others. The ones with the highest energy are mobile and therefore liquid. It increases in size as you get closer to 0°C. Though it’s the most slippery at -7°C because at high temperatures the ice becomes soft and energy is lost by the ice getting deformed under your weight.
https://www-vox-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/2/13/16973886/why-is-ice-slippery?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16763254515886&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fscience-and-health%2F2018%2F2%2F13%2F16973886%2Fwhy-is-ice-slippery
https://www.zmescience.com/science/ice-slippery-h-bonds-8731058/
You’ll hear that the top layer of ice melts but that’s not quite true. Current theory is that the very tippy top layer of molecules are kinda loose because they don’t have as much holding them in place. So they roll around like a hyper thin layer of marbles.
For people who are older than 5, the molecules are ‘loose’ because when water freezes the molecules from into a hexagonal crystalline structure which is very stable. But the very top layer of molecules don’t have enough molecules around them to form this structure so they aren’t held in place quite as hard. Source: QI.
You’ll hear that the top layer of ice melts but that’s not quite true. Current theory is that the very tippy top layer of molecules are kinda loose because they don’t have as much holding them in place. So they roll around like a hyper thin layer of marbles.
For people who are older than 5, the molecules are ‘loose’ because when water freezes the molecules from into a hexagonal crystalline structure which is very stable. But the very top layer of molecules don’t have enough molecules around them to form this structure so they aren’t held in place quite as hard. Source: QI.
All these answers and none correct. The correct answer is we have no freaking clue. The pressure theory is basically debunked by the fact that the pressures needed to do this are insane. The friction melting theory is probably correct but we don’t know. Basically because ice is rough as is everything, friction heats up and creates a thin, molecular scale, line of water between the ice and object on it. Alternatively this doesn’t happen and maybe ice just always has that because of various cohesive forces. The long story short is we don’t know.
All these answers and none correct. The correct answer is we have no freaking clue. The pressure theory is basically debunked by the fact that the pressures needed to do this are insane. The friction melting theory is probably correct but we don’t know. Basically because ice is rough as is everything, friction heats up and creates a thin, molecular scale, line of water between the ice and object on it. Alternatively this doesn’t happen and maybe ice just always has that because of various cohesive forces. The long story short is we don’t know.
There’s an interesting property of ice, which is that water expands when it freezes.
The opposite is also true, then when ice is compressed it causes it to melt.
Therefore when you step on ice, the pressure causes the thin surface layer to melt in response to the pressure of your foot. This makes it incredibly difficult to get any kind of grip on it
There’s an interesting property of ice, which is that water expands when it freezes.
The opposite is also true, then when ice is compressed it causes it to melt.
Therefore when you step on ice, the pressure causes the thin surface layer to melt in response to the pressure of your foot. This makes it incredibly difficult to get any kind of grip on it
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