Physics of Ice Skating Part 2

Part 2 of my research I will be explaining about the materials I have researched and reviewed. I visited several websites to understand how friction is a major factor when ice skating. I also watched several YouTube clips explaining the movement along the skating rink. I the concepts I am going to write are easy to grasp!


How friction affects Ice Skating

Skaters making a sharp turn

The physics of ice skating comes down to analyzing the movement of skates over the ice, the skates allow us to glide over the ice and they push off the ice with the edge which causes the gain in speed. a combination with movement and practice, ice skating can be as effortless as walking. The sharp blades under the skating shoes has a low friction to allow smooth movement when gliding across the ice rink. The physical properties allows a skater to dig into the ice to turn, speed up or stop completely. The general low level of friction on ice allows a skater to glide across the surface smoothly without friction stopping the motion as soon as it's begun. With low friction and high force from the skater a bigger momentum is formed and it is harder to slow down due to the lack of friction. This is why when a skater is making a turn they toss their hands to one side allowing a sharper turn this is because the mass is distributed over a greater space, making the skater lighter.


The next part of my blog, part 3 will be caculations and formulaes on the movement of the skater and I will explain how a skater maintains their momentum when approaching a jump, a sharp turn or even skating backwards!

Thank you for reading! I will update very soon!