The Essentials- Hypothesis: Slippery Conditions

We hosted our first official broomball tournament today and it was great.  Nine teams of two battled on a 600 square foot sheet of ice in a north Minneapolis backyard.  It was a great turnout and a great time but once again I was most intrigued by the ice.

At 8:00am this morning the temperature was perfect for a quick shovel and last minute flood.  After glazing the ice with a thin layer of hot water (hot water promotes good integration of the new water with the existing substrate and also freezes faster(yet another topic for another time)), the sheet was silky smooth.  I was impressed with how the flood turned out and I wasn’t sure if the ice could get any smoother than after the morning flood had frozen. I was wrong.

By the end of the day the ice was much slicker. After thinking about it I have a hypothesis to explain my observation.  All day long the ice was subjected to dozens of feet, scrubbing tiny crystals against the surface, buffing it to a brilliant polish.  The crystals were provided by the snow that has recently fallen and that snow was transported back onto the rink by every player’s feet.  I don’t know if this is what really happened but it makes for a compelling story.  The story is only part of a hypothesis because in science a hypothesis has to have standards.

This explanation works as a hypothesis because it is testable.  That is to say that I could re-flood the rink to mimic the pre-tournament conditions, measure the slipperiness, treat the ice with a good snow assisted boot scrubbing, measure the slipperiness again and compare the results with the first test.  Based on the results of my little experiment my hypothesis would either be supported (not proved) or rejected.  The hypothesis has the power to eliminate possibilities but never prove an explanation because science always leaves room for better and more conclusive evidence to trump previous assumptions.

This rink test is a simple example of experimentation and represents one way of how science works to understand the natural world. Science isn’t, however, limited to experimentation as a way of knowing. Experimentation is just one of many tools science carries on its utility belt of knowing.  Unfortunately those means, and their explanations, will have to wait for another day to be resolved.