"New Insights Reveal Why Ice Is Incredibly Slippery"
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Phys.org
Chinese physicists used atomic force microscopy to reveal that ice's slipperiness is due to a disordered, liquid-like pre-melt coating on its surface, which acts as a lubricant. This discovery was made by examining the atomic structure of ice at extremely low temperatures, showing differences between internal hexagonal ice and the partially hexagonal surface ice.