physical chemistry - Why doesn't a table sublimate, while ice does?

A table does not sublimate, and nor does a spoon. Ice does, however. What is the fundamental difference?

Answer

This relates to the difference between how ice, iron spoons and wooden tables stick together.

In wood, most or all of the bonds between the individual atoms and fibre units are covalent; making them very strong. Similarly, a spoon is an alloy of iron, nickel, chrome and carbon, also a very coherent structure.

In ice, on the other hand, the units of the crystal is held together with comparatively weak hydrogen bonds, meaning that not a lot of energy is required for a surface molecule of water to escape, in a process called sublimation.

Usually, once a water molecule escapes the ice, it is, given a relatively constant temperature, very unlikely to rejoin the body of ice; meaning that especially in open air and windy conditions, ice will sublimate at sub-zero temperatures, although as the temperature of the ice drops, this effect becomes steadily less noticeable.

Edit: It is worth noting that given enough time, a table or a spoon can indeed sublimate as well, at any temperature, but the odds against it are utterly staggering.