I had planned for this blog to end in December along with the end of the semester. However, since my loyal fans (alright so just one person - you know who you are) have insisted that I continue, I thought I would wish everyone a belated Happy Holidays and give you some seasonal science.
While we all commiserate (or celebrate) about the ridiculous winter that the upper east coast has been having, I thought it might be nice to learn about the snow that we have not been having this year.
Snowflakes can form at as high as 37 degrees fahrenheit. A snowflake forms when water vapor sublimes directly into a solid crystal around a particle in the air. As the first crystal begins to fall it hits more water vapor, causing those molecules to freeze onto it.
The plates that form around these crystals tend to make hexagonal shapes because of the shape of water molecules (classic Mikey Mouse - looking H2O).
Different shaped flakes form in different conditions. Temperature and humidity are some variables that affect what a snowflake will look like. Slight changes in temperature might cause the water molecules to form a hexagonal plate or, possibly, to then produce branches.
Generally, more secondary branches (branches coming off of branches) or thinner branches indicates that a snowflake has formed faster. We might see these flakes when there is a higher humidity ie. lots of water vapor in the air.
Fun snowflake science and craft links:
While we all commiserate (or celebrate) about the ridiculous winter that the upper east coast has been having, I thought it might be nice to learn about the snow that we have not been having this year.
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| The rainbow effect seen in this snowflake is created by the refraction of light. When light moves through the crystalized water, the angle at which the different wavelengths (colors) are traveling changes, causing us to see different colors in different places. |
The plates that form around these crystals tend to make hexagonal shapes because of the shape of water molecules (classic Mikey Mouse - looking H2O).
Different shaped flakes form in different conditions. Temperature and humidity are some variables that affect what a snowflake will look like. Slight changes in temperature might cause the water molecules to form a hexagonal plate or, possibly, to then produce branches.
Generally, more secondary branches (branches coming off of branches) or thinner branches indicates that a snowflake has formed faster. We might see these flakes when there is a higher humidity ie. lots of water vapor in the air.
Fun snowflake science and craft links:
- Make snowflakes using borax and pipe cleaners.
- Check out "The Science of Snowflakes" to learn more about how snowflakes form, who's studying them, and how such detailed photos of them have been taken.
- Save a Snowflake - I love this project idea by Popular Science. I believe the suggestion is to put superglue on microscope slides and leave them outside in the snow for a few minutes, so that some flakes get caught on them.
- See more photos of snowflakes.
- Check out NASA's History of Winter web page and read about/ join their Global Snowflake Network
