ICE SKATING:

(Sfx: ice skates skating, coming to a halt, etc.)
     ICE SKATES ARE SHARP.  ASK ANY HOCKEY PLAYER WHO' S ACCIDENTLY BEEN
HIT BY ONE. BUT YOU COULDN'T SKATE WITHOUT THEIR BEING THAT WAY.  YOU MIGHT
THINK THAT THE SHARP BLADE ACTUALLY CARVES A PATH FOR YOUT THROUGH THE
ICE, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT'S HAPPENING, SAYS CHEMIST DIANE BUNCE AT CATHOLIC
UNIVERSITY.
     BUNCE: "All of your weight is on that thin blade . . . and as you push your blade, the pressure of
your body actually forces a thin track of solid ice to be converted into liquid ice.  so you are riding on a
track of liquid water."
     ITS THE WATER THAT ENABLES YOU TO SKATE--IT'S THE SLIPPERY LIQUID THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO GLIDE ACROSS THE RING.  BUT HOW DOES THE SAKTE CREATE THE
WATER?  IT'S ALL BECAUSE AN ICE CRYSTAL HAS A VERY PARITCULAR SHAPE.
     BUNCE: "There's this empty space in their crystal structure , when you put pressure on this crystal
you are actually forcing this crystal to collapse, to take up less space. . . as the crystal collapses you're
bringin about what chemists call a phase change. you're changing from the solid to a liquid and pressure a
lone can do that even though the temperature is staying the same."
     SO FOR THE BEST SKATING REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR SKATES SHARP.  UNLESS,
OF COURSE, YOU NORMALLY FALL A LOT IN WHICH CASE THE ICE IS PROBABLY
SLIPERRY ENOUGH FOR YOU AS IT IS.