2006-12-17 02:22:58 · 20 answers · asked by Gina N 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
A snowflake is a type of crystal. Crystals are formed in nature in a variety of sizes and shapes. Most solid matter, like minerals and metals, are said to be crystalline. Each crystal has a specific shape that helps scientists categorize what type of crystal it is.
You have seen crystals in your everyday life when you put salt or sugar on your food. If you look closely at the salt and sugar you can see the shape of each crystal.
Snowflake crystals are made from frozen water. If you look closely at a snowflake, you can see many different forms. But they will all have something in common.
All snowflakes are the same type of crystal and are hexagonal, which means they have six sides.
2006-12-17 04:16:23 · answer #1 · answered by Crap_At_Maths 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
2
2006-12-17 02:30:38 · answer #2 · answered by kartir2500 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
6
2006-12-17 04:37:03 · answer #3 · answered by Home_educator 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Snowflakes are *always* hexagonal (i.e. six sides) and symmetrical about the hexagonal axes (i.e. each bit is the same as the other five).
But if you wanted to be clever you might say eight because then there's a front and a back also.
Look up a few in Google Art or similar - you'll be amazed.
2006-12-17 02:33:26 · answer #4 · answered by mrsgavanrossem 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are (almost) infinite sides to any snowflake. Snowflakes are shaped like fractals. If you zoom in on a snowflake they reveal more and more detail, until you come to a molecular level. And molecules do not really have sides anymore.
2006-12-17 03:49:37 · answer #5 · answered by No-ni-nu 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Isn't this like the question ' how long is a piece of sting?' That is not meant as a frivolous comment. For the 'string' the usual answer is it depends on what you use to measure it. This is correct because, put another way, it depends on how closely you look at the string. Look at it closely and you will see all of the twists etc and if you measure along this length then the string becomes much longer. So I think it is the same with a snow flake. The closer you examine it the more sides it will have. I suppose this comes down to having to define what we all mean by a side of a snow flake.
2006-12-17 03:32:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
6
The water molecules in an ice crystal form a hexagonal lattice, as shown at right (the two structures show different views of the same crystal). Each red ball represents an oxygen atom, while the grey sticks represent hydrogen atoms. There are two hydrogens for each oxygen, so the chemical formula is H2O. The six-fold symmetry of snow crystals ultimately derives from the six-fold symmetry of the ice crystal lattice
2006-12-17 02:31:19 · answer #7 · answered by yiannis the greek 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A snowflake is an aggregate of ice crystals that forms while falling in and below a cloud. They are typically hexagonally symmetrical.
see here and scroll down a bit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow
2006-12-17 02:32:23 · answer #8 · answered by dave a 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no snowflake is the same so they all have different amount of sides
2006-12-17 03:00:16 · answer #9 · answered by suga-hay1 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
6 sides.
2006-12-17 02:50:59 · answer #10 · answered by Pat R 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋