If water is H2O (l) is snow just H2O (s)?
Just wondering, because I got into an argument with someone about weather water and snow are, basically, the same thing.
Cheers.
DS

Isn't H2O (s) ice? Well I don't know. I guess it's the same but maybe the crystal structure makes it different?

I thought ice was when a lot of water had frozen, and when it was just a drop or water vapour it was snow.

Snow is basically an ice crystal. However, the condensation nucleus is not made of water---it's a little particle of dust or whatever that the water collects around, and it most assuredly contributes to the composition of snow.

Of course, all of this is completely dependent on whether you are refering to the white or yellow forms of snow. :D

Don't eat the yellow snow!
:D

The form the water takes doesn't affect its chemical composition! The molecules are still made up of the same number and type of atoms, it's just that they collect into structures in different ways, depending on many factors including temperature.

Hmm...
the question still remains...
Was I right?

Short answer: Yes

Long Answer : The main consituent of both rain and snow is H20, but there is also a solid contaminant which causes the original ice crystal to form in the first place, plus the usual crap picked up from the atmosphere.

And to add to that, the chances of you finding pure H<tt>2</tt>O outside a lab are very slim indeed. There's more in there. In the case of yellow snow, much more... and not all salts and minerals either.

Legolas - you mean finding large structures formed purely of H20. There is a very big chance of finding H20 molecules, since the hydrogen atoms give up their spare electron to fill the oxygen's outer shell.

[ 02-28-2005, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]