Incline Drift

A clear ice cube was melting at the upper lip of the slanted stainless steel drying tray. It sat motionless at an eight-degree grade. I approached along the rim. Surface tension held it stationary for forty seconds. Then, a thin film of water broke the static seal. I extended my left arm and applied a single gram of forward force against the top edge. The cube broke free. It glided down the metallic incline, leaving a clean three-millimeter-wide trail of runoff, before settling squarely against the drainage rim. Kinetic friction approaches zero when liquefied. Result recorded.