Hockey pucks are frozen before games to prevent them from bouncing like rubber balls
Professional hockey games begin with pucks chilled to sub-zero temperatures to harden the vulcanized rubber, ensuring they glide smoothly across the ice rather than bouncing like a standard playground ball.
Ice hockey pucks are frozen to approximately -5 degrees Celsius before every game to eliminate the natural elasticity of vulcanized rubber. At room temperature, a puck would bounce erratically, but freezing it lowers the coefficient of restitution to under 0.2. This ensures the 170-gram disc stays flat on the ice for better control.
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