[doctorwho42]

It's the reason I got a degree in physics, if you have good professors - discussions like this cause you to break down the problem quite quickly in your head in a working model. Think force diagrams, but with a ton more math backing it up.

I actually find the ice skate a better example than a bike. We have all the physics solved for bikes, it's a complicated system but so is everything in motion. Hence we assume a spherical cow for the sake of the problem.

But ice skates... Now that's a funky one. Why do ice skates works? Ice skates aren't sharp bladed, they actually have flats. Ice is not slippery, it's when something is on ice in between our shoes and the ice that cause it to be slippery. Some people think it's the localized pressure of the blade that causes ice to locally melt. Hard to really wrap your head around. But it works :)

[jibe]

Ice skates aren't sharp bladed

Not sure how you meant that, but ice skates are sharp. Each edge of the blade is sharpened by grinding a hollow out of the center.

https://weekendwarriorshockey.com/how-sharp-should-my-skates...

[SkyBelow]

>We have all the physics solved for bikes, it's a complicated system but so is everything in motion. Hence we assume a spherical cow for the sake of the problem.

This depends upon the question one is trying to answer. If one is trying to create a bicycle that can self balance, that involves considering different factors compared to trying to determine why certain injuries result in a person losing the ability to balance on a bicycle while others do not. Is the focus the bicycle or the human?

[ezconnect]

I thought it was not just about ice skating but the question of why is ice very slippery is the hard part to explain.