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Once upon a generation ago, I worked at an ice rink. "Cleaning the ice" using an ice resurfacer involves cutting the top 1/16" of ice off and laying down new wa
by inetknght 6y ago
Once upon a generation ago, I worked at an ice rink. "Cleaning the ice" using an ice resurfacer involves cutting the top 1/16" of ice off and laying down new water. Hot water is preferred because it freezes faster and produces a denser sheet of ice; a denser sheet of ice is going to be better for skating.
It's nice to see more papers on it.
- ISL 6y agoI've always imagined that hot water would also preferentially smooth the surface, melting any high spots, deep cuts, or granular ice that might have survived the zamboni.
- sosborn 6y agoThank you for getting the zamboni song stuck in my head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkJbvv3pHg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkJbvv3pHg
- comboy 6y agoI don't think it's the effect described in the article. It probably wouldn't be noticeable. It may be that by melting more of the ice below it removes all roughness of the surface where there could be air which is working as an insulation. Additionally, depending on details, by melting more ice it could probably make exchange of heat faster between the surface down below.
- lmilcin 6y agoHot water and is preferred because it has less gasses dissolved and this way it produces clear ice. Also cold water could freeze too quickly, if the rink is very cold, before it has time to spread evenly. I am pretty sure any tiny time difference, if it exists, would not be worth the hassle of supplying hot water.
- sasaf5 6y ago> Hot water is preferred because it has less gasses dissolved true, but while the temperature decreases the air dissolves back in. What makes ice clear is directional freezing, the sheet freezes from below, pushing the gases up. You can try that in your freezer by putting in it a styrofoam box full of water. Just in this case it will freeze from the top and push the gases downwards. The upper layer will be crystal clear.
- lmilcin 6y agoI did this experiment many times, myself. If you start with boiled water you will get much thinner layer with bubbles. Air actually takes a bit of time to diffuse into water if it isn't getting mixed with air (that's why your fish tank needs air to be actively mixed with water). Starting with thin layer of water that was recently hot gives not enough time for any significant amount of air to dissolve. I work with electronics. I use electronic water for parts cleaning. Electronic water is pure water, distilled, deionized, degassed (no oxygen in it) so it does not oxidise copper traces. It does go bad (bad meaning gets oxygen dissolved) when opened, but think more like hours or even days if proper precautions are taken (don't shake or stir once the container is opened).