Physics of Snow

The most basic form of ice crystals is a hexagonal prism. This form occurs because some surfaces of the crystal, ie the growth surface grows very slowly. The reason for these aspects comes from the molecular structure of water and how water molecules arrange themselves in the crystal lattice. Hexagonal prisms include two hexagonal "base" surfaces and six rectangular "prism" surfaces. It should be noted that if the length along the c-axis is shorter or longer than the length along the a-axis, the hexagonal prism may be "plate-like" or "columnar".

The physical change in the solid and liquid parts of the earth is common (eg physical weathering, erosion, sedimentation). The state change of water by temperature is a physical change. Water freezes in snow and ice, then melts into liquid water and evaporates into water vapor. The appearance of the water changes, but it is still water. If the rock melts (chemically weather), such as when the limestone is dissolved by carbonic acid to form a cave or acid rain, the earth's material undergoes a chemical change. Another example is the formation of metamorphic rocks and reactions such as ozone formation and deterioration in the atmosphere.

Snow and snow is a kind of precipitation consisting of numerous specific types of small ice crystals. These crystals called snow crystals grow from water vapor in cold clouds. Snow crystal has six sides, but shape is different. They collide and make snow. The size of snowflakes is different. You can join up to 100 crystals and form snowflakes that are larger than 1 inch in diameter. Snow is much less than rain. About 6 inches of wet snow or 30 inches of dry fluffy snow is equivalent to 1 inch of rain. The amount of snowfall greatly varies on the earth. It belongs to Polar all year round. However, the most serious snowfall occurs in the warm mountainous areas of winter. In the hills above 16,000 feet, snow may even get off near the equator. Snow is an important water source. The plate crystal is shown as a flat 6 panel

Sometimes snow falls even on Mars. It is thought that Mars' snowflake made of carbon dioxide instead of water is a very small particle that generates fog rather than snow. The Mars Arctic and Antarctic regions are covered with ice, most of which are made of carbon dioxide, not water. Today, according to NASA, the seasonal change is due to the rising and falling of the ice sheet of carbon dioxide, the movement of dust in the atmosphere, and the movement of water vapor between the earth's surface and the atmosphere. (Most of the water comes from the Northern Water Ice Bed, which is exposed and sublimed during Mars summer where carbon dioxide evaporates from the cap.