Curling Science - Sweeping

I often ponder the physics of curling, and have previously posted on thedrag effect here on the bayblab. These musings have yet to improve my game but as the winter olympics approach and as my beer league curling team suffers embarrassing defeats from inebriated senior citizens, I thought I would post some information I found on sweeping.Sweeping is done by one or more players on the team whose rock is being shot. The players sweep the ice, using specific curling brooms, directly in the path of the travelling rock. Sweeping reduces the deceleration and the degree to which the path of the rock curls.A common belief is that sweeping melts a thin layer of ice ahead of the rock and that the resulting thin layer of water decreases friction between the rock and the ice.An investigation into ice temperatures resulting from sweeping demonstrated that sweeping raised the ice temperature by 1.5C and achieved a maximum ice temperature of -1C. It was also found that raising the temperature of the ice was crucial for the effectiveness of sweeping but the temperature measurements, as determined by infrared camera, suggested that sweeping doesn't melt the ice. I do not understand the exact methodology or much about infrared cameras but I remain skeptical that a sufficiently thin layer of ice temperature can be measured in this way. It is known that themelting point of ice is decreased under pressure, such as the pressure experienced by ice under the weight of the rock. Therefore I don't kno...
Source: Bayblab - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: blogs