Fact of the Day: 05/01/2021
Why do snowflakes have six sides? The answer is chemistry. Water, or H2O, consists of two hydrogens and one oxygen bonded covalently (sharing electron pairs). This structure allows water molecules to be polar, meaning they have a positive side and a negative side, consequently giving water very unique properties such as cohesion, adhesion, a high heat capacity, and… you guessed it, a hexagonal (six-sided) structure. Thus, when hexagonally bonded water vapor freezes into snowflakes, the snowflakes adopt its hexagonal structure as well, giving us beautiful crystalline fractals. Ah, the beauty of science.
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