I am not good at drawing things, not at all with drawing software. So, what is shown below is my best attempt, using Skitch.
What I am saying is that this must be the minimum unit of ice in nature. At least, this is my understanding of a quantum mechanically stable ice. This schematic is not very much exaggerated, and there is already a striking feature to be noticed.
This thing can and will multiply into a bulk structure through stacking via hydrogen bonding, containing billions of these mini ice crystals. Note that this unit is too small to be seen with naked eyes. When you look at the bulk you will not notice that it is not made up of regular cubes.
How would I describe a regular cube? I would probably say that it looks benign enough, even peaceful as its corners are not particularly pointing. However, above structure already looks dangerous, to me. For a start corners are pointing. Also, if other units are added, or attached to the starting unit the growth directions will not be perpendicular. Growth directions will be slanted.
If, for instance, we are looking at the growth direction from the top and bottom surfaces only (that is to say, we are now observing the growth sideways) one growth may be in the direction of two o'clock, and the other in the direction of eight o'clock.
With a regular cube as the starting unit we would naturally expect growth in X-Y-Z directions, perpendicular to one another. In that case, snow crystals would be looking like a cross! Or, would they, really?
雪の結晶の画像
５、７、9 why six arms? why six, not any other numbers?
恐らく部分的な溶解と再凍結のものも also, indication of fractals, possibly
notice one thing in common, except a few
one possibility may be that in the case of re-freezing there are already an extremely large number of water molecules in the vicinity and even if the rule of selective addition of water molecules still applies seed crystals are already inundated with would-be candidates and bulk ice is formed rather quickly, whereas a seed ice in air turbulence does not have many around it and selective attachment takes place over a much longer period, enough time to form characteristic 6 arms?
have been scribbling away, but an eternal process
cumulative attachment or deposition or whatever, statistical, even growth via
centre of gravity temporallily offset away from star centre
bulk transport of local air mass in turbulence, molecular sharing and bonded water molecules in a plane
What I am saying is that this must be the minimum unit of ice in nature. At least, this is my understanding of a quantum mechanically stable ice. This schematic is not very much exaggerated, and there is already a striking feature to be noticed.
This thing can and will multiply into a bulk structure through stacking via hydrogen bonding, containing billions of these mini ice crystals. Note that this unit is too small to be seen with naked eyes. When you look at the bulk you will not notice that it is not made up of regular cubes.
How would I describe a regular cube? I would probably say that it looks benign enough, even peaceful as its corners are not particularly pointing. However, above structure already looks dangerous, to me. For a start corners are pointing. Also, if other units are added, or attached to the starting unit the growth directions will not be perpendicular. Growth directions will be slanted.
If, for instance, we are looking at the growth direction from the top and bottom surfaces only (that is to say, we are now observing the growth sideways) one growth may be in the direction of two o'clock, and the other in the direction of eight o'clock.
With a regular cube as the starting unit we would naturally expect growth in X-Y-Z directions, perpendicular to one another. In that case, snow crystals would be looking like a cross! Or, would they, really?
雪の結晶の画像
５、７、9 why six arms? why six, not any other numbers?
恐らく部分的な溶解と再凍結のものも also, indication of fractals, possibly
notice one thing in common, except a few
one possibility may be that in the case of re-freezing there are already an extremely large number of water molecules in the vicinity and even if the rule of selective addition of water molecules still applies seed crystals are already inundated with would-be candidates and bulk ice is formed rather quickly, whereas a seed ice in air turbulence does not have many around it and selective attachment takes place over a much longer period, enough time to form characteristic 6 arms?
have been scribbling away, but an eternal process
cumulative attachment or deposition or whatever, statistical, even growth via
centre of gravity temporallily offset away from star centre
bulk transport of local air mass in turbulence, molecular sharing and bonded water molecules in a plane