A steel wire is wrapped over a block of ice with two heavy weights attached to the ends of the wire. The wire passes through a block of ice without cutting the block in two. The ice melts under the wire and the water freezes again above the wire. The wire is considered a rigid rod of negligible mass laying on the ice block with an area of contact A. The two weights of mass M each are hanging at both ends of the wire (Fig. 6.15). 

The entire system is at atmospheric pressure p₀ and the ice is held at temperature T_m − ΔT where T_m is the melting temperature at atmospheric pressure. The latent heat of melting of ice is s, the molar volume of water v and the molar volume of ice is v_s. Determine the minimal mass M of each weight for this experiment to succeed, i.e. for the wire to pass through the ice block.

Transcribed Image Text:

M M