Fumio Ito

A new method for producing artificial snow crystals using a mixture of salt and ice

It has been found that artificial snow crystals can be produced by a simple method using a mixture of salt and ice crushed into sherbet as the cooling material. The freezing mixture of about 100 g was contained in a small styrene cup (85 mm , 50 mm height). A black acrylic plate (25 mm , 2 mm thickness) was placed on the freezing mixture in the cup. The cup was placed in a closed plastic box (130×130×65 mm). The water vapour in the air trapped in the plastic box crystallized onto the surface of the acrylic plate and made a crystal 1-2 mm in size in 20 minutes. The artificial crystal is quite similar to natural snow crystals with excellent hexagonal symmetry. A model to explain the process of producing the artificial snow crystal has been proposed, insisting that the electric field due to the static electricity from the acrylic plate plays an important role in making the seeds for the crystal growth.