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In 1859 Faraday discovered that ice at close to room temperature is covered by a thin layer of a liquid-like layer. When you walk on ice, you are actually walking on water, which provides very little resistance to sliding (low coefficient of friction). Furthermore, ice that is not too cold melts when squeezed. As you walk on ice, you press down on it and a thin layer of ice melts under your foot and adds to Faraday's layer. Finally, once you start sliding, the action causes the water, and the ice, to melt more, and adds water to decrease the friction still further.

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14y ago

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