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The surprising enigma of slippery ice

The surprising enigma of slippery ice

60-Second Science vor 7 Monaten

The reason we slip and slide on ice—a phenomenon central to figure skating, curling and other Winter Olympic events—is a centuries-old physics mystery that may have finally been cracked

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Many of the events in the Winter Olympics involve some sort of
sliding or slipping on ice—in a skillful, controlled way. Those
moves often seem effortless, but the physics behind what makes them
possible is messy. For centuries, scientists have been trying to
figure out why ice is slippery. In this episode of Science Quickly,
host Kendra Pierre-Louis laces up her skates to explore the
slippery truth behind that deceptively simple question. She’s
joined by science journalist Paulina Rowińska and physicists Daniel
Bonn and Martin Müser, who take us through various competing
theories and explain how we may finally have a winner. Recommended
Reading: “Why Is Ice Slippery? A New Hypothesis Slides Into the
Chat,” by Paulina Rowińska, in Quanta Magazine. Published online
December 8, 2025 E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have
any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American
and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced
by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff
DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with
fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music
was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices.
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