How Ski Wax Affects The Friction Of Ski

Introduction

Ski’s slide because when pressure is applied to snow it creates a thin layer of water between the ski and snow. As the pressure is released, the skier moves on from that point, the layer of water created by the skier refreeze ("WHY SKIS SLIDE”). The question this experiment will attempt to learn is which type of ski wax reduces the friction of the ski the best: rub on, paste, spray on, or hot?

Skiing is a passionate sport to numerous people around the world. In this sport a skier’s feet are fastened to the ski with fixed heel binding to keep his feet is place as he makes his way down the mountain (“What is Skiing”). The bindings can attach and detach to the skier’s boot whenever it is necessary. Skiing boots have multiple binding

Quick waxes such as rub on, paste, and spray on are fairly easy to apply. Hot wax is a bit more difficult to apply and needs to be melted on then scrapped off with a scrapper ("How to Wax Skis and Snowboards”). Scrapping the wax off fills the small holes or scrapes that may be on a skier’s ski. This type of wax is much more effective and coats the ski more evenly than the other waxes tested. A mistake could have been made when the wax was scrapped off, if too much wax was removed it won’t reduce as much friction. A thin layer of wax needs to be present on the ski, too much will slow the skier down as well as too little

First, ski wax can help in a variety of ways while a person is skiing. “Wax is applied to base of skis to further reduce friction and make skis slide more easily.” ("WHY SKIS SLIDE”). Wax is also used to prevent the ski bases from drying out (“Ironing Suggestion & Hints”). Next, Friction is the force that causes an object to slow down or affect the effort for the object to move across another surface (“Types of Forces”). Without friction an object will keep traveling in the same direction forever. Friction causes resistance between two surfaces. Newton’s first law states, an object in motion will stay in motion, an object in rest will stay in rest until another force acts upon it. Friction is that force that slows a skier down, without it they will never come to a stop. Furthermore, alpine skiing is a passion to many around the world. Furthermore, “Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings.” (“What Is Skiing”). It is also commonly known as downhill skiing, although that also incorporates different styles (“What Is Skiing”). There are many different styles of downhill skiing, many people ski for the enjoyment but some may participate in competitive ski races. Additionally, velocity is distance divided by time, in other words, how fast an object travels per second, minute, hour, etc. On the other hand