eli5… What is the science behind the kids game “Don’t break the ice”?

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

You can do a quick demo with almost any rectangular objects – wood blocks, tissue boxes, or even the blocks from the game.

Put 4 blocks in a row on a flat surface. Hold only the two end blocks and try to pick up all 4 blocks. You will find that if you push together on the 2 end blocks, squeezing the 2 in the middle, you can lift all 4 blocks. If you release the pressure on the end blocks, the middle blocks will fall.

Friction is holding the middle blocks in place. With less squeezing force, the friction force goes down and is not enough to hold the weight of the middle blocks.

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