Talk:1867: Physics Confession

172.68.141.190 07:54, 24 July 2017 (UTC)F1rst P0st http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/269:_TCMP

Fuckin' ice skates, how do they work? OldCorps (talk) 11:26, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Any relation to #1489? They're both about things physicists don't understand. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1489:_Fundamental_Forces

Explanation of skating

A lot of people both here and on Reddit seem to be talking about pressure of the skates reducing the melting point. Pressure of the skates can only reduce the melting point by about 0.5C, so this is clearly not sufficient to produce a layer of liquid below -0.5C. The more correct explanation is that there is an ever-present layer of liquid on the surface of most crystals, including ice - this is the best explanation that exists right now, and explains why ice skating stops being possible below around -30C (and is hard at intermediate temperatures). This is the explanation offered by most modern university courses on thermodynamics or materials science - here is an excerpt from a University of Cambridge materials science course: Excerpt Jaredjeya (talk) 13:03, 24 July 2017 (UTC)