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A disk is rotating its circumference scraping along obstructions such that the growth of ice is steered naturally to a perfect circle. This rotation has a fixed
by _nalply 7y ago
A disk is rotating its circumference scraping along obstructions such that the growth of ice is steered naturally to a perfect circle. This rotation has a fixed center and axis. A ball however would be scraped towards a cylinder if the same thing happened. To create a ball nature would need the same thing as someone making a wood ball on a belt grinder: vary the rotation axis. However if there are local stability minima, the block of ice would degrade to a preferred rotation configuration. Just thinking aloud here...
- Someone 7y agoOn the one hand, pebbles are more like spheres than like cylinders. On the other hand, they’re different in that they can only lose weight, whereas this can also grow. I guess the end result would depend on the shape of the surrounding cave and on what fraction of its volume the object would eventually fill. I don’t see a tumbling cylinder made of ice inside a hollow sphere filled with icy water remain cylindrical in shape, for example. On the other hand, inside a relatively tall cylindrical space where the water is below freezing temperature, things could be different (does the production of M&Ms involve tumbling?)