A curling stone moves in a way that you wouldn't expect if you were just looking at really basic physics, right? So the base of a curling stone is not flat. It's actually concave and there's only a very narrow ring. And these stones are garnished. They're made from a really particular garnish from one place in Scotland. The fundamental understanding of what's happening where that kind of rough granite surface is touching the rough pebbled ice is still up for debate.
What makes ice slippery? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly uncover the complex physics of ice and cool facts we’re still learning about it with physicist and author, Laurie Winkless.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/slippery-science-the-physics-of-ice/
Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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