If you look at a snowflake under a microscope, you will realize that they are far more complex than they are deemed to be.
The average snowflake can be either a single ice crystal or up to a collection of 200 ice crystals.
Snowflakes start from condensed water vapor that gets frozen on the surface of a seed crystal, a small particle of a crystal made to initiate and guide the growth of future crystals.
The phenomenal patterns that make up snowflakes stem as the ice crystals grow which can only be done at zero degrees celcius or less.
Every single snowflake is different because of their unique shape, size and design; however, they all share one quality: having six sides.
According to Elton B. Stephens Co. (EBSCO), the vapor pressure exhibited on the ice crystal, which is smaller than a water droplet, creates the snowflake’s hexagonal shape.
Newly fallen snow has a density of 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter or less, making sublimation and a decrease in porosity occur quickly. As snow reaches a density of 0.8 grams per cubic centimeter, it is then classified as ice.
Although ice is clear, snowflakes appear white due to the light being reflected off the snowflake’s many surfaces.
The intricate creation of snowflakes prove that even one of the smallest pieces of nature can be so involved, yet majestic.
