1
Technology / Hot Bladed Ice Skates Faster or Not?
« on: 03/05/2010 02:46:36 »
Some time take an ice cube and slide it across a frozen pond. Its ridiculous to think that either of those two needs to melt for the slipping to occur. Now take a hockey puck and slide it next to the ice cube on the same pond. No different. The pond is very smooth, so it will have a low coefficient of sliding friction. Much like sliding a dime across my desk. I'd never actually heard the melt/re-freeze theory applied to pucks before.
Skates are different, though. There is a phenomenal amount of pressure when a 200 lbs person puts his weight onto the knife-sharp edge of a single skate. That's plenty of pressure to melt the ice. The sudden pressure changes could easily melt and re-freeze the ice as traditionally thought. The melt/re-freeze also explains why the ice gets so rutted during a hockey game. Although hockey-stops help explain that, too.
But your question is really "should I buy the gimmick skates?" I'd say, don't bother. It's right up there with shaving your legs before a swim meet. How much of a difference do you really think it will make? What's 2/10ths of a second over the length of an ice sheet worth? Will that difference change the outcome of the game? I'm sure your money would be better invested in a book than the skates. If you could anticipate your opponent just a little better you'd have a much bigger advantage than trivially faster skates.
Skates are different, though. There is a phenomenal amount of pressure when a 200 lbs person puts his weight onto the knife-sharp edge of a single skate. That's plenty of pressure to melt the ice. The sudden pressure changes could easily melt and re-freeze the ice as traditionally thought. The melt/re-freeze also explains why the ice gets so rutted during a hockey game. Although hockey-stops help explain that, too.
But your question is really "should I buy the gimmick skates?" I'd say, don't bother. It's right up there with shaving your legs before a swim meet. How much of a difference do you really think it will make? What's 2/10ths of a second over the length of an ice sheet worth? Will that difference change the outcome of the game? I'm sure your money would be better invested in a book than the skates. If you could anticipate your opponent just a little better you'd have a much bigger advantage than trivially faster skates.