Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
DOI
10.1119/5.0167778
Publication Title
The Physics Teacher
Volume
62
Issue
2
Pages
156
Abstract
This article, titled "Snow spheres and ice cubes," discusses the melting of snowballs and ice cubes. It explains that in standard calculus textbooks, it is shown that a snowball melting at a rate proportional to its surface area will have its radius decrease at a constant rate, assuming it remains spherical as it melts. The article then poses several questions related to this concept, including the proportion of a smaller snow sphere that remains when half of a larger one has melted, the value of p for which the smaller sphere first melts, and the volume reduction factor for cubes of different sizes. The article concludes by mentioning Fermi Questions, which are brief questions with estimation techniques.
Rights
© Copyright 2024 AIP Publishing LLC.
This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in
Adam, J. (2024). Snow spheres and ice cubes. The Physics Teacher, 62(2), 156.
and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0167778
Included in accordance with publisher policy.
Original Publication Citation
Adam, J. (2024). Snow spheres and ice cubes. The Physics Teacher, 62(2), 156. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0167778
ORCID
0000-0001-5537-2889 (Adam)
Repository Citation
Adam, John, "Snow Spheres and Ice Cubes" (2024). Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications. 245.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/mathstat_fac_pubs/245