Re: Why do Curling rocks curl?

The reason that a curling stone curls has more to do with angular 
momentum than friction. If you are riding a bicycle, you are more 
stable the faster you go. The slower you move the less stable you are. 
A good example of this is a classic physics demonstrtation done with 
a bicycle wheel. While sitting on a rotating stool, you hold a spinning
wheel. When the spinning wheel is perpendicular to the floor there is 
no motion of the stool. Turn the spinning wheel parallel to the floor
the stool rotates in the direction of spin. Since the coefficients of 
friction for ice is very small, the rotational effects are greater. 
The purpose of spotting the ice with pebbles is to increase the 
frictional effects. This will allow the spin to have greater or less effect.
Since I have never played the sport, or having seen it either, this is my 
best interpretation of what is going on. I would encourage you to devise
some experiments to test both our ideas.