Friday, January 16, 2009

Making snow

Now why, you are asking yourself, would someone want to make snow when there is already two feet of snow on the ground in Vermont?

Oh, I don't know.
It was an experiment.

My roommate made more bubbles this morning, wondering if they would shatter in the minus 23 F. degree weather. No, so far all the bubbles she blew simply froze. (one is still there. We are going to keep checking to see if it will last the whole day.)

Then she went on to the next experiment -- making snow.
She went outside with a cup of hot water and a cup of cold water.
When she threw the cup of cold water into the air -- it instantly made largish, hail-sized lumps of ice that fell to the ground.

But the hot water?
Amazing!
When she threw the hot water in the air, it came down as fine particles of SNOW.

Another student has told us that, when the weather is much, much colder (minus 50? who knows?), hot water will evaporate completely when you throw it out of the cup. But minus 23 is the coldest it's supposed to be this week, so we'll never know.
-wendieO

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. I've enjoyed following your frosty days in Vermont. You inspired me to take bubbles on our mountain trip this weekend (daytime highs expected to be 6F).

Wendie O said...

Let us know about your bubble adventures. We found that above zero, the bubbles did not freeze, but at below zero, they did. We haven't discovered the exact temperature where it changes, though.

My roommate is now busily writing an article about her bubble experiments. (I'm just her cheering squad.) -wendieO

Marion said...

Brrr! We had -7 Friday morning as we headed out of town to go to visit the Atlanta campus of Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). When we got to Atlanta it was 35 degrees and felt like Florida to us! A great time to head south. Alas we returned Saturday night because snow was predicted for Sunday & we did not want to get stuck in the mountains. SCAD looks like an ideal college home for Jamie. ($$$)
Love, Marion