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Science Forum Index » Nanotechnology Forum » snowflake
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| mike |
 Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:26 pm |
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Hi all.
Tried this on the other newsgroup and got no
response at all, thought Id see if the moderator
will permit it here....
I've asked this one years ago, when i was a
schoolkid.
Never got a real answer, but this must be an
appropriate question for nanotech.
A snowflake, forms six symmetrical points that are
very pleasing unless youre me. 
How does a point know what the other five look
like, and ensure it follows suit?
Is there a nano-fabricator up in the clouds?
Baffled
Mik |
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| Jim Logajan |
| Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:45 pm |
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mike <mike@invariant.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
Quote: A snowflake, forms six symmetrical points that are
very pleasing unless youre me.
How does a point know what the other five look
like, and ensure it follows suit?
It all boils (ahem) down to the geometry of the H2O molecule. It has
"sticky" points around its "surface" such that when H2O molecules bump into
each other and stick, they only stick together in certain ways. That's
basically the way all regular crystal stuctures form.
Also, a Google search of the search terms "snowflake" and "formation"
yields a bunch of relevant hits. Here is just one:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/snowflake.htm
Quote: Is there a nano-fabricator up in the clouds?
It is the work of Stochastic, god of chaos, that brings order to the
universe! ;-)
Ironically, nanofabricators will be of more value in constructing large
non-regular structures than structures containing repeated symmetry (e.g.
crystals). |
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