The Sticking Properties of Water Frost Produced under Various Ambient Conditions

Physics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

To form planetary systems, small solid particles which condense out of the cooling gas of the primitive solar nebula must aggregate together to form larger bodies. Centimeter-sized particles can grow out of micrometer-sized grains; planets can form from the coagulation of kilometer-sized planetesimals. The formation of stable, long-lived kilometer-sized objects from centimeter-sized particles is, however, not so straightforward. Some sort of surface sticking force is needed to hold these aggregates together against rotational forces as well as collisions in a turbulent solar nebula. We have performed experiments to determine the surface sticking force of water frosts under a variety of ambient conditions. Our primary results are listed below. 1. The structure of the frost is critical in determining its sticking properties; thin, porous frosts are more likely to adhere than are thick, dense frosts. 2. Sticking forces range up to 250 dyn/mm^2. 3. Temperature fluctuations can increase the sticking force by significant amounts. 4. The frost bond acts like a spring: it stretches before breaking, with the displacement proportional to the applied force. Measured spring constants for many different water frosts cluster between 10^5 and 10^6 dyn cm^-1 (over a total area of 78 mm^2). Based on these findings, we suggest that frosts of volatiles such as water could provide the necessary surface sticking mechanism in some low-temperature regions of the solar nebula.

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