Snowflakes inherit their symmetrical shape from the structural layer of water molecules. This hexagonal shape is caused by six water molecules forming a circle together.
This basic structural layer is thus flat, and because the bonds between the molecules in this basic structure are much stronger than the bonds between layers, the crystals take on a flat shape.
The hexagonal and symmetrical structural layer thus forms primarily a two-dimensional form and not a three-dimensional one.
Water molecules are arranged six together
However, not all snowflakes are flat. How the shape will be in detail is also determined by small changes in air humidity and temperature.
Small, flat stars form when temperatures are close to freezing. Between -3°C and -10°C, long needles form. But when the frost drops below 10 degrees, flat stars appear again, only much larger.
As individual snowflakes encounter different conditions on their way to Earth, they expand in different ways. Therefore, there is also something in the fact that not all snowflakes are the same.
But there are various basic shapes that can be seen over and over again. Experts say that these basic forms are no less than 35.
