The Life of a Snowflake by Amanda Boone
Honorable - Natural Category
School: Viewpoint School
Teacher: Mrs. Nancy Argano-Rush
Snowflakes form when water vapor condenses on a dust particle or sulfuric acid. The water vapor must condense directly into ice, which happens in snow clouds. Clouds also cause the water vapor to diffuse into the air and travel more slowly to the dust particle or sulfuric acid, allowing it to grow gradually with each molecule of water vapor and not with one big drop of water. As the water condenses into ice it forms hexagonal prisms. Along uneven surfaces or edges more water vapor condenses into ice causing branches to form around the hexagonal prism on the imperfections in the first molecule. These bumps then become even better places for water vapor to condense into ice causing the branches to grow and branch off. Snowflakes have many different shapes due to the different temperatures at which the water vapor condenses into ice.
