We've not seen every snowflake that exists or has existed...maybe
there's a formula that proves it(?)
2006-12-05 10:33:30 · 6 answers · asked by comedycatalyst 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Snowflakes are formed by freezing, wind, humidity, etc...so the chances of 2 being exactly the same are probably so large of a number you would spend all day just counting the commas.
2006-12-05 10:43:11 · answer #1 · answered by wizardslizards 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is rather lengthy and technical but it answers your question.
There is a widely-held belief that no two snowflakes are alike, but that claim has not been proven, and, due to the astronomical number of snowflakes that fall, is impossible to prove by exhaustive methods. Strictly speaking, it is extremely unlikely for any two objects in the universe to contain an identical molecular structure; but, there are, nonetheless, no known scientific laws which prevent it. In a more pragmatic sense, it's more likely, albeit not much more, that two snowflakes are visually identical if their environments were similar enough, either because they grew very near one another, or simply by chance. The American Meteorological Society has reported that matching snow crystals were discovered by Nancy Knight of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The crystals were not flakes in the usual sense but rather hollow hexagonal prisms (Wikipedia).
2006-12-05 18:47:23 · answer #2 · answered by Keif 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just think about the number of water molecules are in 1 snowflake. and then think of the chance of two freezing and each one having the exact same size and look exactly the same. for that to happen would mean that in two snowflakes the molecules are in the exact same order.
think about it this way: in a jigsaw puzzle. each piece representing 1 water molecule. you have 2 identical jigsaw puzzles new in the box. of you dump each box onto a separate table, what are the odds that all the same pieces on each table are at the exact same place.
it's like 1 in infinity
2006-12-05 19:21:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Frosty told me they're all individuals. Never two alike.
2006-12-05 18:42:34 · answer #4 · answered by JENNY J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How can you disprove it?
2006-12-05 22:13:14 · answer #5 · answered by Funnel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How can you disprove it?
2006-12-05 18:42:56 · answer #6 · answered by act as if 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋