In This Thread: Southerners who don’t know how snow works.
“Snow” on the ground is mostly air. This is why it’s such a good insulator when you build a survival “snow cave”. So when you apply a low-temp flame to it (such as a match or lighter), very little of the snow actually melts, the rest being protected by the air spaces trapped in the flakes. The “blackening” is the soot produced by the lighter/match collecting on the extensive surface area of the snow (which also acts as a radiator to further retard melting). The smell is either combustion byproducts trapped in the snow, or pollution.
Also, even if you melt the whole clump, you’re going to get a “lot less” water than you expect, again because snow is mostly air. One inch of rain equivalent produces over ten inches of snow. So a tiny handful like that is barely going to produce a teaspoon of water, maybe less depending on how “dry” the snow is.
If snow is mostly air, why is it so heavy to shovel? ;D
This was the best I’ve seen..but still
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/debunked-fake-snow-burning-snow.3026/
I didn’t get any blackening or odor.
Just no melting for the whole snow blob I brought in.
Ha! this is true and even when we do get 'snow'-- it's more often sleet.
As a kid I can't tell you how often I was disappointed trying to catch pretty snowflakes to look at only to wind up with tiny ice pellets.