Thread: Snowflakes?
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Old March 5th 05, 09:43 PM posted to uk.sci.weather
Michael McNeil Michael McNeil is offline
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Default Snowflakes?

"Alastair McDonald" k
wrote in message


"Taz" me@home wrote in message ...
Looks like everyone avoided the original question. Why are snowflakes
created when they should just form a pellet?


It is the shape of the H2O molecule which decides the shape of the crystal.
It is like a boomerang, with a 120deg bend. Thus the crystals are flat
and six sided.


But not polymorphic or whatever the term is for carbon crystals?

Water droplets in air might form pellets when the drop is in a free fall
like suspension. (They are round due to the internal tension being equal
in all directions or somesuch. But what keeps the droplets apart?)

And the ice crystal seems to generate in a form of deliquescence (is
that the term) when the liquid phase of the physical change is missing?

I must admit to not having read the link through yet. An ice crystal or
cube dropped into supercool water will form crystals similar to the
frosting on windows. Apparently water in a pond ices up the same way,
top down not side to side at the top (or any other layer.)

There must be some way that ions are jiggled in any matrix so that
their arrangement hits just the right note to bring them out of
suspension. Perhaps they can only come out of suspension in that one
ideal way. Or perhaps that way is the first key that fits?

We know when we force ions to form electronically, they form crystals
amorphically.

(Very loose use of scientific terms due to not being sure of what I am
talking about.)

(The usual thing me me, I have to say.)


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