The Chemistry of Snowflakes

Feb. 7, 2014
 A snowflake begins to form when an extremely cold water droplet freezes onto a pollen or dust particle in the sky. This creates an ice crystal. As the ice crystal falls to the ground, water vapor freezes onto the primary crystal, building new crystals – the six arms of the snowflake.
 
How do snowflakes form? - NOAA

The Chemistry of Snowflakes - Bytesize Science

by the American Chemical Society

Published on Dec 17, 2012                                                               Snowflake photo courtesy of ACS

The video tracks formation of snowflakes from their origins in bits of dust in clouds that become droplets of water falling to Earth. When the droplets cool, six crystal faces form because water molecules 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYrF3sFBY20

 

Discovery Channel - Filming Snowflakes Forming 01:26

Each individual snowflake is as beautiful as it is unique. With help from an electron microscope, Frozen Planet shows you snow forming in a way you've never seen it before.

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/frozen-planet/videos/filming-snowflakes-forming.htm

Snowflake Watching - Discovery Channel Dec 23, 2010

Physicist Ken Libbrecht has an obsession with snowflakes and has travelled the world studying and documenting them. Because of their complexity no two snowflakes are the same and provide a limitless variety of shapes and structures to study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd-hb2xzvZI

Snowflake from Wikipedia      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake

Six Pointed Cutout Paper Snowflake   

A very fun way of making snowflakes, each time you open one up it is a surprise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AfT-w5vH2w

A fun virtual way of making snowflakes. Try your design before you cut the real paper.