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Asked by to Amelia, Izzy, Sarah on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 19 Mar 2014:
Scientists still don’t fully understand the answer to this question.
What we do know is that a very thin layer of liquid water on top of the solid ice makes it slippery. As the water keeps moving around it can be difficult to walk on. However, scientists don’t understand why this layer of water is there. Some people think it appears as you walk on it and melt the ice slightly, and other think that it is just there anyway as an inherent property of the ice.
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anon answered on 19 Mar 2014:
when you skate on ice, you slide on it, you slightly melt the ice and this allows water to form between the 2 solid surfaces! and you move gracefully, or fall over as I do
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Isabel Webb answered on 19 Mar 2014:
The smoother and object, the less friction and so the more slippery. Solids tend to have more friction because their surfaces aren’t smooth – they always have little bumps or dents. Water, however, is liquid and so has less friction and a smooth surface. Ice above 0degrees will have melted ice and so water on the surface, making it slippy.
Gases also have less friction and this is why air hockey tables work by creating a bed of air just above the table for the puck to slide on.
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