The sticking point: why physicists are still struggling to understand ice’s capacity to adhere and become slippery

By Philippe Brunet, Directeur de recherches CNRS, Docteur en physique, HdR, Université Paris Cité
Pierre-Brice Bintein, Docteur en sciences physiques, Université Paris Cité

Whether in the form of frost or a smooth, transparent ice cube, ice adheres spontaneously and even quite strongly to many solid surfaces. However, as any careless person who has skidded on winter sidewalk can testify, ice can also be very slippery. In fact, ice can be both sticky and slippery.

This versatility has long puzzled scientists. To begin with, they have been attempting to crack the secret behind ice’s slipperiness for more than 150 years. Among them have been famous physicists such as Lord…

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