 https://www.livescience.com/2202-5-000-year-origin-ice-skating.html Around 1800 BC people used bone
skates to move along the ice. Mayer wrote in 2018
that bones have natural oil on them that reduces the
coefficient of friction on the ice even further. The
bone skates allowed people to continue moving in one
direction easily, but there was still the problem of
initiating motion and turning. People solved this
problem by digging sharp sticks into the ice. By
doing this at the right angle they were able to get
enough friction to push themselves forward. Because
of Newton’s first law of motion, which states that
objects will remain as they are (either moving or at
rest) unless acted upon by an outside force (such as
friction), skaters could easily continue moving
forward once they had initially started moving.
Bone skates were great for moving in a straight line, but with so little friction between the bone and the ice, turning was difficult. Turning required difficult maneuvers using a stick to push themselves to the side. Turning also required skaters to slow down considerably to be able to maneuver themselves. |
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