Do you wanna build a snowman???? no but seriously, how do the water particles compact when its snows and how come the

Question: Do you wanna build a snowman???? no but seriously, how do the water particles compact when its snows and how come the flakes are unidentical????????????
- Keywords:
  chemistry,
  physics,
  snow flake
Asked by to Alan, Deepak, Francesca, Lilly, Nick on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
- Deepak Kar answered on 17 Mar 2014:
  
  Building a snowman is fun 😀
  
  Well, if the snow is moist, then they stick together. Then if the temperature is still below zero, that moisture also freezes, and bing, you have large piece of snow.
  
  Snow flakes form when water freezes around a tiny dust particle, resulting in the flakes. However individual snowflakes all follow slightly different paths from the sky to the ground —and thus encounter slightly different atmospheric conditions along the way, ending up having different shapes.
- Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 17 Mar 2014:
  
  The water molecules can attach themselves to each other in many different ways as they are built up in clouds, with different winds and temperatures letting the snowflake build up in random ways. This is why no two snowflakes are the same. If you’re lucky, the water molecules all follow the same pattern and you end up with a lovely 6-sided or 6 armed snowflake. But most snowflakes are kind of messy, with bits of ice going in all directions.
  
  A snowflake is a kind of water crystal, which is why they can appear symmetrical. The study of crystals of all types is a big area in physics, because it helps us understand how atoms join together to make solid things. We can now engineer the molecules of different substances into different forms using this, and these are why we now have computers with large memory disks. It’s how people are working on invisibility cloaks and water-resistant glass.
- Francesca Day answered on 18 Mar 2014:
  
  Yes please! Snow flakes are formed when ice crystallises around a bit of dust or grit. Each snowflake forms around a different particle and in slightly different conditions, and this leads to each snowflake being unique. Snowflakes are ice, but they are usually coated in a layer of water too – I think this is what makes them stick together.
- Nick Wright answered on 21 Mar 2014:
  
  I’d love to build a snowman, but it hasn’t snowed here yet!
  
  Snow is moist and so it can stick together as a mixture of ice flakes and water – at least until the Sun melts it!

Question: Do you wanna build a snowman???? no but seriously, how do the water particles compact when its snows and how come the flakes are unidentical????????????

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