After a snowfall, everyone goes outside to enjoy it, and it always ends the same way, with snowball fights. In this article, we show you how to make the perfect snowball.
The international classification for seasonal snow on the ground, the IASC (Yes, believe it or not, there is such an association), states that there are five types of snow depending on its humidity; dry, wet, damp, wet, very wet and soggy.
There is a scientific name for a test that checks what kind of snow we have in our possession, and that is the “compression test”. To do this we take a good piece of ice and compress it as much as we can and see how much water comes out of it.
If a lot of water comes out, it is likely that the ball is at the wet or soaked level, so we should not throw it at anyone, as we are likely to hurt the target of our shot. On the other hand, if we are unable to form our ball, we are likely to be dealing with dry snow (less than 3% free water in it). It has been scientifically proven that the ideal snowball is between 3-5% water.
As each grain of snow melts it will refreeze, which will interact with the free water molecules; forming a species of “glue” inside the snowball, forming what is called the “meniscus”; and the ideal snowball has a meniscus running through the whole ball, so it appears to be glued together.
You might think that because your hands are warm, they will melt the snow and form a meniscus. But bare-handed it might melt some of the snow on the outer layer; but the meniscus will not form completely and the inside of the snowball will remain as it was, and your hands will quickly freeze and go numb.
Extreme pressure could also help create that meniscus in your quest for the perfect snowball; but it’s not something you can do at home. Now you’re ready to make the ultimate snowball. Who you throw it at is up to you.
Also find out what temperature the bottom of the oceans are at here.
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