Question

In about a week, the Winter Olympics will begin. A common misconception cited for why ice skaters are able to glide over ice is that: 'the pressure of the ice skate on the ice lowers the melting point of the ice, so the skater is gliding on a transient film of water'. In actuality, the pressure exerted by the skater is too small to cause the ice to melt. (The pressure melting effect is called regelation and occurs at very high pressures, helping explain the movement of glaciers). With this information in mind, is it important to know the atmospheric pressure and altitude when measuring melting points? If not, what other physical property is signifcantly influenced by atmospheric pressure and altitude?

Answer 1

ANSWER :

Yes it is important to measure the atmospheric pressure and altitude when measuring melting point because we know that liquid occupies more space than solids and now if we increase the pressure then it will become harder to transfer from one form to another that needs more valume if we are under pressure so we need more energy, hence, temperature to melt. So, there is decrease in the melting point when pressure increases. And we also know that pressure decreases with increasing altitude means ice melts first at the higher altitude. So, we can conclude that the melting point of ice and it's melting temperature will increase with decreasing pressure at high altitudes.

So, it is important to know the atmospheric pressure and altitude when measuring melting points.