Watch snowflakes form and melt on a microscopic level

Pioneer Press/Digital First Media ^ | 2-28-14 | P. Kim Bui

[TurboZamboni]

Vyacheslav Ivanov made a timelapse of snowflakes forming and melting that's mesmerizing and sort of makes you appreciate the beauty of those frozen bits falling from the sky..

[Talisker]

“Sort of makes you appreciate”?!

:sigh:

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sarah Palin foresaw this happening from her front porch. The media roared with laughter when she said it.

I'm sure they'll be apologizing now.

[madison10]

Ice flowers. Our Creator as artist: breathtaking.

[stars & stripes forever]

Snowflakes - designed by The Creator for His delight.

[IronJack]

What amazes me is the symmetry. The seemingly random conditions that cause the snowflake to crystallize apply identically for all six branches. You'd think there would be slight variations.

And we're supposed to believe this "just happens?" Nah. There is genius behind this.

Although I WOULD be willing to sacrifice a few billion samples ...

[RedMDer]

1st Quarter FReepathon

Less than $5.4k to go!!
We can do this.

[Pride in the USA]

So wondrous and so breathtaking.

[ShasheMac]

I don’t want to upset anyone, but the third snowflake looks EXACTLY like one I saw when I was a kid.

[metmom]

While they are indeed beautiful, I didn’t see nay snowflakes melting, and I can’t help but wonder just where he found snowflakes forming that were so stationary that he could take time lapse images of them.....

[William Tell]

IronJack said: "You'd think there would be slight variations."

I think there are. But we get fascinated by the fact that the variations from one branch to another are so slight.

My conjecture is that the original "seed" which grows to form the snowflake contains imperfections with six-fold symmetry and it is these imperfections that dictate the particular pattern of the branches. As the branches grow, additional imperfections occur but they have less and less impact on the pattern as the growth proceeds.

Our appreciation for snowflakes is much like how we see identical twins. The similarities between the twins is so striking and so unexpected for those of us who seldom see twins that we are amazed by the similarities. Those who are around twins eventually recognize the differences and the amazement lessens.

The "seed" of the snowflake consists of so many billions of molecules that the number of ways in which the molecules can fail to line up properly is as close to infinite as any natural process gets. There are enough variations to believe that nobody will ever see two identical snowflakes.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks for posting this. I wonder how Mr. Ivanov made these incredible videos.

I’ve always wondered at the fact that the tiniest microscopic nucleation site leads all crystal growth to be symmetric. It is truly astonishing.

[William Tell]

metmom said: "... I can’t help but wonder ..."

Do you know what a "cloud chamber" is?

It's a closed container which gets filled with a mixture of air and water vapor at nearly one-hundred percent humidity; that is, the air can't hold any more water vapor without the water condensing out.

The container is made so that the volume of the container can be increased. This lowers the pressure and results in air which is then super-saturated; that is the humidity is actually above one hundred percent. The slightest disturbance in the air will trigger condensation of the water creating clouds.

Cloud chambers have been used in scientific studies of atomic particles. The particles passing through the chamber act as the disturbance and cloud tracks are created showing the passage of the particle.

I would guess that the apparatus used for the video has similarities to a cloud chamber. The conditions are set to encourage formation of snowflakes and the snowflakes will form around particles which disturb the conditions.

One trick to make the snowflakes stationary might be to perform the experiment in outer space where there is no gravity. Jets in a steep dive can mimic a zero gravity condition for a minute or so. It is a pretty neat trick.

The experiment would rely on having just the right temperature, pressure, humidity, and the presence of minute dust particles perhaps to form the nucleus for the snowflake. Possibly the nuclei can form just on what particles exist without purposely introducing them.

Another requirement is to use a light source for illumination which doesn't heat the snowflake and disturb its growth.

[lonevoice]

Thanks for the ping!

These are so ephemeral, delicate and perfect. Our Creator is an exquisite artist.

Direct youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2hml0b0kLs