You may have heard that ice skaters actually skate on a thinlayer of water rather than solid ice (which reduces friction on theblade and allows them to skate faster). Let’s work through acalculation to determine if this statement is reasonable. Estimatethe pressure exerted by a 200-lb hockey player, standing on twoblades that are 0.1 mm x 20 cm. Calculate the melting point of icebelow the player, assuming that the density of ice under theseconditions is approximately 0.915 g cm–3 and that ofliquid water is 0.998 g cm–3. Assuming a typicaltemperature of ice in a skating rink is 27 °F, does a hockey playerskate on ice or water?
