Snow, Ice, and Hailstone

I believe we’ve all seen snow before, but in settings such as chemistry classrooms, we see ice cubes instead of snowflakes. So what makes them different? The answer lies in the distinct formation process of snow and ice. Snow is an ice crystal, which attracts water vapor when it falls from the cloud. After reaching the ground, it continues to attract water vapor, which is the reason why winter is always dry. Snow is naturally formed when coming down from the clouds at a temperature below 0 degree Celsius. Normally, the ice we see in the lab is artificially formed by lowering the temperature. Another similar natural product is hailstone. Hailstones are also solid ice, however, they fall during summer. When there’s a thunderstorm, the wind blows raindrops upward into the layer where airplanes fly, which is extremely cold. The raindrops then change their forms into ice and fall down onto the ground. They usually reach the ground before melting, which causes great damage to buildings and people.