all right we're ready to do this
experiment I have the two 1.5 kilograms
masses separated by a copper wire and my
housemate an assistant Colette has the
21.5 kilogram weight separated by some
fishing line they're both the same
thickness so we're going to put them on
simultaneously and see how they go in
cutting through the ice as yours
all right we're roughly halfway through
the experiment but I ran into trouble
the copper wire actually pulled out of
these weights and so they felt the
ground at this point it looks like the
copper was doing slightly better than
the fishing wire but I've had to rig up
a new copper and so I'm going to try it
in a different spot and let this new
copper compete
I also scraped off the insulation there
was some enamel coating on the copper
wire so I've scraped that off so it
should just be straight copper wire now
so let's see how it performs
all right it's half past one but it
looks like the experiment is over and we
have a winner
the copper wire pulled clean through the
block of ice while the fishing line is
still stuck in there
so why was that why is the copper better
able to pass through this ice block than
the fishing line well I think the answer
may have something to do with thermal
conductivity the copper is a better
conductor of heat than the fishing line
that's important because as the wire
passes through the ice refreezes once
the wire has passed and that releases
heat if that heat is transferred quickly
it passes to the ice below melting it
and allowing the wire to move further
and faster now relation is not just some
abstract useless scientific concept
every time you make a snowball you
compress those ice crystals of the snow
and when you compress it it melts a bit
turning it to water but as you release
the pressure it refreezes so what we've
made is a snowball think about that next
time you have in a snow fight