Was playing Don’t Break the Ice today and I was wondering if someone could explain the science concept behind what holds the ice pieces together. Preferably a little deeper than just “pressure of pieces in a small space.” I looked online but it didn’t help me out very much lol.
Eta this is literally to explain it to a 5 year old
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The edges of the board have plastic springs. Putting the ice cubes in requires some squeezing as it’s a tight fit. This squeezing happens because in order for all the cubes to fit, the plastic springs on the sides, those plastic flaps, need to be pushed outwards. But since they’re springs they want to return to their normal position so they exert a force on the ice cubes. When the board is full of ice cubes this force is transmitted evenly from one side of the board to the other. The cubes stay together because they’re pushed together and there’s a certain amount of friction between them. A good example is how you might pick up something like a box by putting your hands to the sides and squeezing. You’re not supporting the weight mechanically from below but the box is lifted because the friction between your hands and the box is enough to keep it between your hands instead of slipping down.
As pieces are removed this makes the force of the springs uneven across the surface, since not all pieces are in contact with the edges. It also means that if a piece is not being squeezed adequately, it will fall out. Remove enough pieces, and this can create a chain reaction, where with each piece falling out another that was in contact with it also becomes unstable and also falls out.
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