PHOTO COURTESY OF ZAMBONI COMPANY ARCHIVES/© DAVID KLUTHO

STANDARDS

NGSS: Core Idea: PS1.A

CCSS: Writing Informational Text: 7

TEKS: 6.9B, 7.6, 8.5, C.4C

The Amazing Zamboni

Peek inside the machine that keeps ice rinks in top shape

December 12, 2016

By Amy Barth

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do ice hockey teams keep the surface of their rinks smooth and clean? Why is this important?

Hockey star Ryan Getzlaf of California’s Anaheim Ducks races across the rink. He digs his skates into the ice and skids to a stop. He shoots the puck. He scores!

Hockey fans love these kinds of intense plays. But they can leave the ice battered and bumpy as players’ skates gouge holes in the frozen rink. So at intermission, it’s time to roll out the Zamboni machine. It covers damaged, dirty ice with a flat, sparkling sheet of ice.

Hockey star Ryan Getzlaf of California’s Anaheim Ducks races across the rink. He skids to a stop. He shoots the puck. He scores!

Hockey fans love these kinds of intense plays. But they can leave the ice battered and bumpy. That’s because players’ skates slash holes in the frozen rink. So at intermission, it’s time to roll out the Zamboni machine. It covers damaged, ice with a sparkling sheet of new ice.

States of Matter

Watch a video about the properties of the states of matter and how matter changes states.

“The Zamboni is like magic,” says Steve Van Berckelaer. He’s the lead ice technician and Zamboni machine driver for the Honda Center in Anaheim, where the Ducks play. “People see it go out on the ice, and a nice smooth sheet of ice comes out behind it. They’re amazed at the trick, but they don’t have any idea how it’s done.”

Inventor Frank Zamboni built the first Zamboni machine in the early 1940s. Before then, workers had to manually scrape and wipe down ice rinks using squeegees, sponges, and buckets of water. The task took more than an hour to complete. A Zamboni machine can clean an entire rink in less than eight minutes.

Today, more than 11,000 Zamboni machines resurface ice at rinks around the world. “The first time I operated a Zamboni by myself, I was hooked,” says Van Berckelaer. “And 16 years later, I’m still hooked!”

“The Zamboni is like magic,” says Steve Van Berckelaer. He’s the lead ice technician and Zamboni machine driver for the Honda Center in Anaheim. That’s where the Ducks play. “People see it go out on the ice, and a nice smooth sheet of ice comes out behind it,” he says. “They’re amazed at the trick, but they don’t have any idea how it’s done.”

Inventor Frank Zamboni built the first Zamboni machine in the early 1940s. Before then, workers had to scrape and wipe down ice rinks by hand. They used squeegees, sponges, and buckets of water. The job took more than an hour to finish. A Zamboni machine can clean an entire rink in less than eight minutes.

Today, more than 11,000 Zamboni machines are on the job. They resurface ice at rinks around the world. “The first time I operated a Zamboni by myself, I was hooked,” says Van Berckelaer. “And 16 years later, I’m still hooked!”

STATES OF MATTER

A Zamboni machine uses water to clean and make new ice. Ice (a solid) and water (a liquid) are two states of matter. When water is heated, it becomes gaseous water vapor—another state of matter.

SHUTTERSTOCK

SOLID

Solids are made up of tightly packed molecules or atoms. This arrangement helps them maintain their shape.

SOLID

Solids are made up of tightly packed molecules or atoms. This arrangement helps them maintain their shape.

SHUTTERSTOCK

LIQUID

A liquid’s molecules or atoms easily slide past each other. A liquid takes the shape of the container it’s in.

LIQUID

A liquid’s molecules or atoms easily slide past each other. A liquid takes the shape of the container it’s in.

SHUTTERSTOCK

GAS

A gas’s molecules or atoms can move about freely and spread out to fill a space.

GAS

A gas’s molecules or atoms can move about freely and spread out to fill a space.

STATES OF MATTER

SHUTTERSTOCK

SOLID

Solids are made up of tightly packed molecules or atoms. This arrangement helps them maintain their shape.

SOLID

Solids are made up of tightly packed molecules or atoms. This arrangement helps them maintain their shape.

SHUTTERSTOCK

LIQUID

A liquid’s molecules or atoms easily slide past each other. A liquid takes the shape of the container it’s in.

LIQUID

A liquid’s molecules or atoms easily slide past each other. A liquid takes the shape of the container it’s in.

SHUTTERSTOCK

GAS

A gas’s molecules or atoms can move about freely and spread out to fill a space.

GAS

A gas’s molecules or atoms can move about freely and spread out to fill a space.

HOW A ZAMBONI MACHINE WORKS

Zamboni machines help keep ice rinks smooth. The machine seems to magically transform rough ice into a smooth and safe surface. But under the hood, there’s a lot of engineering at work.

SHAVING: As the machine moves over the ice, its sharp blade shaves a thin layer of ice from the rink’s surface.

COLLECTION: A large horizontal screw runs the width of the machine to gather the ice shavings. Then a vertical screw moves the shavings up into the snow tank.

CLEANING: Warm water from a water tank is sprayed out to wash the ice. The water loosens dirt, trash, and anything else stuck on the ice. A squeegee collects the dirty water, which is then vacuumed up by a water pump.

RESURFACING: The Zamboni’s ice-making water tank releases a thin layer of water. A towel spreads it over the rink’s existing ice surface. The water freezes, creating a smooth, fresh sheet of ice on top of the old one.

HOW A ZAMBONI MACHINE WORKS

Zamboni machines help keep ice rinks smooth. The machine seems to magically transform rough ice into a smooth and safe surface. But under the hood, there’s a lot of engineering at work.

SHAVING: As the machine moves over the ice, its sharp blade shaves a thin layer of ice from the rink’s surface.

COLLECTION: A large horizontal screw runs the width of the machine to gather the ice shavings. Then a vertical screw moves the shavings up into the snow tank.