GED Science: Friction on Ice!
Monday, March 1st, 2010Hey, did anyone out there watch the 2010 Winter Olympics? Watching all those skiers and skaters made me wonder how come you can slide down snowy or icy surfaces so fast, but if you tried the same thing on grass or concrete, you wouldn’t slide as much. I mean, what makes ice so slippery? I know it has something to do with friction but I don’t really know what friction is, so I tried to look it up. But then I realized something. The internet has a LOT of information! There’s like over 25 MILLION results when I put the word “friction” into google.com. When I looked at the first one at Wikipedia, it said:
Friction is the force resisting the relative lateral (tangential) motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, or material elements in contact. It is usually subdivided into several varieties.
Already I’m like, WHOAH, what does THAT mean? I have no idea! That’s why sometimes I feel stupid, ’cause I read stuff on the internet when I just wanna find out a simple answer to a simple question like, “Why is ice slippery” and I get this sentence about relatives and ladders and tangerines. I don’t get it! (more…)

