Snowflake Quiz: The Science of Snow and Ice Crystals
This snowflake quiz looks at the science of snow, from six-sided ice crystals and Wilson Bentley's first snowflake photographs to Ukichiro Nakaya's lab-grown crystals, graupel, why snow looks white, record snowfall at Mount Baker and the dry deserts of Antarctica. Ten questions.
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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds
Shape
Why do most snowflakes have six sides or six arms?
Photography
Who took the first known photographs of individual snowflakes, in 1885?
Color
Snowflakes are made of clear ice. Why does snow look white?
Science
Japanese physicist Ukichiro Nakaya was the first to do what with snowflakes in the 1930s?
Shapes
At what temperature do the classic, branching star-shaped snowflakes often form?
Types
What is graupel?
Records
Which mountain in Washington state recorded about 29 meters of snow in the 1998–99 season, a world record?
Antarctica
Why is much of Antarctica considered a desert?
Sound
Why does fresh snow make the world seem quieter?
Myths
Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike?
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Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: Why do most snowflakes have six sides or six arms?
Answer: Because water molecules freeze into a hexagonal pattern
When water freezes, its molecules link up in a six-sided lattice. That structure is copied as the crystal grows.
- Q2: Who took the first known photographs of individual snowflakes, in 1885?
Answer: Wilson Bentley
Bentley, a farmer from Jericho, Vermont, photographed more than 5,000 snowflakes. He was nicknamed Snowflake Bentley.
- Q3: Snowflakes are made of clear ice. Why does snow look white?
Answer: Light scatters off countless crystal surfaces
Light bounces around the many surfaces of the crystals and comes out as all colors mixed, which our eyes see as white.
- Q4: Japanese physicist Ukichiro Nakaya was the first to do what with snowflakes in the 1930s?
Answer: Grow artificial snow crystals in a lab
Nakaya showed that temperature and humidity decide a crystal's shape. He called snowflakes letters sent from the sky.
- Q5: At what temperature do the classic, branching star-shaped snowflakes often form?
Answer: Around −15°C
Scientists have found that plates, needles, columns and stars form in different temperature ranges, a pattern shown in the Nakaya diagram.
- Q6: What is graupel?
Answer: Snow pellets formed when droplets freeze onto snowflakes
Graupel looks like small, soft white balls. It forms when supercooled water droplets freeze onto falling snow crystals.
- Q7: Which mountain in Washington state recorded about 29 meters of snow in the 1998–99 season, a world record?
Answer: Mount Baker
Mount Baker's record of 2,896 centimeters in a single season is still listed as the greatest seasonal snowfall measured.
- Q8: Why is much of Antarctica considered a desert?
Answer: It receives very little new precipitation
Some inland areas receive only about 50 millimeters of precipitation a year. The thick ice sheet built up over millions of years.
- Q9: Why does fresh snow make the world seem quieter?
Answer: It absorbs sound in the air pockets between flakes
A fresh layer of fluffy snow is full of tiny air spaces that soak up sound, a bit like acoustic foam.
- Q10: Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike?
Answer: Very likely, because each crystal follows a unique path
Simple crystals can look the same, but complex snowflakes experience slightly different conditions as they fall, so exact matches are extremely unlikely.
Snowflake Quiz – The Science of Falling Ice
Snowflakes are among nature's most beautiful creations. Each one begins high in a cloud, when water vapor freezes onto a tiny particle of dust or pollen. As the ice crystal falls, it grows by collecting more water vapor, forming delicate arms and patterns. By the time it lands, it may have joined with other crystals to form a fluffy snowflake.
Most snow crystals have six sides because of the way water molecules arrange themselves when they freeze. Temperature and humidity decide the final shape: thin plates, long needles, hollow columns or the classic branching stars. In the 1930s, Japanese physicist Ukichiro Nakaya grew snow crystals in a laboratory and mapped how these shapes depend on weather conditions.
People have long been fascinated by snowflakes. In 1885, Wilson Bentley, a farmer in Vermont, became the first person known to photograph a single snowflake through a microscope. He went on to capture thousands of images, helping spread the idea that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Scientists agree that identical complex snowflakes are extremely unlikely.
Snow also shapes our world. Fresh snow absorbs sound, making winter landscapes feel quiet, and it looks white because light scatters off countless ice surfaces. Mount Baker in Washington holds the record for the most snow in a single season, while Antarctica, covered by ice, is technically a desert because so little new snow falls there.
This quiz covers the science, history and records of snow and snowflakes.
What This Quiz Teaches
This quiz is perfect for science fans, students and anyone watching snow fall outside the window.
- How snowflakes form in clouds
- Why most snowflakes have six sides
- Who first photographed and studied snowflakes
- Why snow looks white and makes the world quieter
- Different types of snow, such as graupel
- Where the snowiest places on Earth are
Quick Facts About Snowflakes
- A typical snowflake falls at about 1 to 2 meters per second.
- Some snowflakes contain about 10 quintillion water molecules.
- Large clumped snowflakes form when temperatures are close to freezing.
- Snow can fall even when the air at the ground is slightly above 0°C.
- Wilson Bentley's photographs are kept at the Buffalo Museum of Science.
- Pink or red snow can be caused by algae growing on snowfields.
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