Making A Natural Snowflake

One of the greatest phenomenons in nature is the snowflake!

 

This was a family Christmas night project that reflected my love of the science of water. H20 is a vastly deep subject and one could devote their entire life to learning its mysteries. Or they could just take an evening and cut out some paper snowflakes.

Wilson Alwyn Bentley, was the first person to successfully produce a photograph of snow crystals in 1885. He began when he was only 19 and still images were on the forefront of technology.

http://drawnassociation.net/2009/09/snowflakes-wilson-alwyn-bentley-1865-1931/snowflakeswilsonbentley/

Creating "realistic" paper snowflakes takes observation
and a basic understanding of the science behind the magic. 

If snowflake science doesn't interest you, 
skip this next part to the "How To" section below...

AHEM! OK, each pure snowflake is six sided. This is because two hydrogens in the H20 molecule move to a 120 degree angle against the oxygen molecule when frozen forcing them to align (unlike the usual 115 degree angle of the warm water molecule). This is what happens when all water freezes. This also explains why water expands when it freezes. The H20 molecules must spread out farther in order to be able to lock together.

 Add these molecules ,however, into lattices Molecule upon molecule in the air and “voila”… you get a growing 3D crystal with six sides that build into very large and complex works of art (still tiny to the eye).
The shape of a snowflake can vary greatly depending on temperatures, humidity, air pressure, foreign particles, ions, frequencies etc.

Observation would hint that these six molecules are somehow distinguished in groups of three which would explain the shape of many snowflakes. (360 / 120 = 3). Perhaps a particle in the air was embedded in the crystal early on causing a mutation in one of the two groups causing it to become symmetrically deformed.
No two snowflakes are alike however there are several categories into which snowflakes can be categorized. Not all snow flakes are not even six sided. However, these exceptions are attained through certain conditions that allow them to develop off the same concept of a 120 degree H20 molecule.

So how is it that all lattices of a single snow flake can grow nearly identical to each other? First off let me say they are never perfectly identical. However they usually follow the same growth pattern. Wouldn't some sort of mutual communication be required? Some believe there is no communication at all but that the six branches grow entirely on their own and end up the same because the conditions in which they each form were uniform.

Either way at least two principles are at play...

1: water in all forms will follow the path of least resistance

2: New molecules that become attracted to growing crystals will align themselves towards the most attractive forces along the crystals edges which has to do with the the presence of charged ions and other factors. These forces can be influenced by many variables.

More detailed information is available at www.Snowcrystals.com
An online guide to snowflakes, snow crystals, and other ice phenomena


Some believe these designs are "predetermined" by existing frequencies and energy patterns.
I am a firm believer in this idea.

William G. Finnegan and Richard L. Pitter of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev., suggest that growing ice crystals can incorporate certain ions, leaving their oppositely charged partners behind in a thin liquid layer surrounding the ice core. In effect, a growing ice crystal acts like a battery, separating positive from negative ions to generate a potential difference across an ice-water interface amounting to 30 volts or more.

This charge-separation mechanism, which operates only while the ice crystal is growing, may not only determine a crystal's shape but also initiate important electrochemical reactions within ice crystals, leading to the production of chlorine and the reduction of carbon dioxide to formate ions.

In other words, snowflakes are not just sculptures
but actual functioning machines complete with circulating cores and even a simple bio chemistry.
Sort of like a living organism!



The only other hint I can offer on the phenomenon
of snowflakes at this time is one phrase
"Fractal Geometry"
a most fascinating subject on the mathematical construct of random patterns found in nature.

THE 
"HOW TO"


Ok so how do you make paper snowflakes that pattern real snowflakes?

 My boys wanted to make some of the snowflakes we observed so we set up a table with a few pieces of paper, and scissors. Nothing else is required except for a little know-how. However, an x-acto knife can aid in providing some very intricate details. 
I will be using one.

First fold an 8x11 paper in half long wise.

 This in turn is folded in half again; easy enough for my boys to follow.

OK kids, undo this last fold and use the middle crease to guide the next move. Fold both sides upwards and over each other. This just so happen to be a 60 degree triangle. Use a protractor if you feel the need to be exact

Both folds should come to a sharp point at the bottom and You should end up with an object that looks like a fighter plane.

This in turn is  folded over once more either way

 With scissors, cut the top off along the paper line.

If you were to unfold it, you would see a hexagon with twelve sections.

The next step involves the difficult decision of what your snow flake must look like. 
Don't think too hard you can always make another.

There are many choices. 

I chose this one

This next step is about interpreting the profile of a snowflake. After some practice, you can determine how to cut your paper just by a single glance at snowflakes on your glove. (if you are able to see them). 

Think of a snowflake as 12 sections, each one a mirrored half of a single arm. Just one displays the needed pattern

This part you are observing is just one of the twelve repeated sections from the crystal I picked. Its shaped just like my paper.

Here is how I interpreted the ice. The shaded sections are going to be cut out. It is simplified a bit and is only a best interpretation of the many intricate angles that exist on the real snowflake.

Scissors can easily cut off edge sections.

For the middle sections, an x-acto knife was employed.

The finished product convey a striking similarity.

Here is Enochs. He did a great job!

Here is Joels', some mutations have occurred ;)

These make great Holiday decorations that we like to keep up all season long.

 Happy Holidays 2010

"Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; you put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend". ~ Bruce Lee