People put wax on their surfboards to increase the grip they get, yet skateboarders use it to decrease friction on ledges/rails. How can wax be used to both increase and decrease friction?
In: Physics
Surfers need the extra friction on their boards so that they don’t slip on the wet surface and fall off.
You know, because there’s water involved and water makes hard surfaces slippery.
Surf waxes are designed for very specific water temperatures to provide just the right amount of tackiness.
My uneducated guess would be wax finds the middle ground between the 2 surfaces, wood to concrete or metal would need to be a little more slippery and fiberglass to snow could probably use more friction
Different wax? For skiing you have hard wax, for surfing is pretty mushy. Different consistency could be the reason. But im no expert.
I’ve never been surfing but I always thought adding wax to rails, curbs and our skateboards was to increase friction. Skated for a Little over a decade .
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