Why snow patterns form on the windows. Why do patterns appear on the windows in winter? Making frost at home

Winter has many symbols that, at one glance at them, remind us of clear cold days, the sun sparkling on the snowdrifts, dashing games and fun in the fresh frosty air, and also ice patterns on glass.

What masterpieces you will not see on the inner surface of the window when it's freezing outside! Imaginative people, as well as ordinary observers, see painted winter landscapes and ornaments that can cover the entire surface of the glass or creep in from the corners, framing the view from the window. Here there are spruce branches, and snowy plains, and thickets of ferns, and pine forests, and what else the bewitched viewer of the winter patterned creation will not see.

In fact, all this beauty is a natural manifestation of physical phenomena. The main participant in the process is water, the well-known combination of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen (H 2 O), which is famous for the fact that it can take three of its hypostases: solid, liquid and gaseous, within the external environment with insignificant, in a general chemical concept, change temperatures from 0 to 100 degrees.

When there is moisture in the air and the temperature drops below zero, moisture gradually condenses on cooled surfaces. Immediately I remember how in the heat all kinds of bottles, cooled in refrigerators, perspire invitingly. When the temperature is above 0, the water vapor transforms into a liquid, but when it is lower, passing the liquid state, it becomes ice, or rather its tiny crystals. When the room is warm, any moisture that is near the window glass, behind which it is cold, turns into micro-frogs, falling on the chilled surface. With this, everything is clear, but where do such unique and diverse patterns come from?

Each glass is not perfectly clean: it keeps dust particles, small scratches, touch prints, all kinds of "traces" of environmental influences. The moisture that gets on the glass is also not distilled. Therefore, regular ice crystals with six faces, which are formed in laboratories, cannot appear on glasses. Crystals grow at the edges of surface microcracks, around dust particles and other inclusions. A film of moisture, even very thin, tends downward according to the laws of physics, therefore, ice formations are always denser in the lower part of the glass, and more delicate and patterned at the top. The direction of air currents at the glass surface is also important. While there is not too much water, the curls are thinner and more delicate, with an increase in the amount of moisture deposited on the glass, crystals begin to grow not only on the plane, but also in volume, covering the pattern with a dense white veil.

Some scientists even came up with the idea that all the universe of nature obeys identical laws, i.e. the way chemical crystals are formed, the cells of living organisms are formed and built according to the same principles. That is why some of the glazing patterns are reminiscent of pristine rainforests. Well, scientists cannot do without a flight of imagination, because this was the beginning of many discoveries.

It remains only to note with some sadness that modern double-glazed windows, which are proud of their constant temperatures, no longer provide an opportunity to enjoy artistic painting of frost. But they say that our famous lace-makers from Vologda and Kostroma took plots for their extraordinary delicate laces, looking at the frozen window in winter ...

Every winter you can see magnificent patterns painted by frost on the windows. They are very diverse and intricate, mysterious and simply gorgeous.

How do ice patterns form on glass?

Indoor air is much warmer than outside, and humidity is lower. But near glass, sometimes the temperature can be below the dew point, that is, the values ​​when the steam begins to condense into dew. Small ice crystals form and ice patterns appear on the window.

Why are ice patterns always different?

Because the conditions inside the room and outside are changeable: temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed. Even the thickness of the glass and its cleanliness play a role.

At first, frosty patterns form on the surface of the glass, and when their thickness becomes so large that the release of heat to the outside slows down, then the ice patterns begin to grow in thickness.

"Vegetable" patterns appear at high humidity and a gradual decrease in temperature. First, the glass becomes wet, and then the moisture freezes, forming bizarre "thickets". The process starts from the bottom of the glass as more water collects there. And the drawing there is larger, and towards the top it becomes smaller.

If the cooling process was fast, and moisture did not have time to drain down the glass, then the “woody” pattern throughout the window will be the same size.

Window panes cannot be perfectly flat and smooth; they almost always have minor defects and scratches. They also contribute to the formation of another frosty pattern. Ice crystals first form along the scratch, forming a strip, and then curved stems begin to branch off from it.

Since frosty patterns on the window appear under certain conditions, it means that if you change them, the glass will remain clean. Decrease the humidity of the air or do not allow the glass to cool too much (to make the window good heat insulation) and the frost will not paint anything on your window.

Remember how in childhood we clung to the windows, on which frost painted bizarre patterns? How interesting it was to look at them and find the outlines of fantastic flowers in each, come up with fabulous plots or just run your finger along arcs, lines and bends. Where did these frosty patterns come from?

Moving away from the language of romance to the language of science, frosty patterns are nothing more than frosting on the inner surface of glass. In the cold season, the air temperature near the windows is always lower than in the room. Cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. Therefore, its excess falls out with frost. If the glass temperature is below zero, water settles on it in the form of ice crystals from the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid phase. These crystals (frost) cover the glass with a thin layer.

But where does the drawing itself come from? It is formed in connection with two factors. The first is the movement of air inside the room. The second is the features of the glass surface. Any scratch, dust, fingerprint allows you to create your own unique pattern on frosty glass. The most common frost pattern structures are dendrites and trichites. Dendrites - tree-like structures - are formed if glass cooling began at a positive temperature and continued at a negative temperature. In this case, a thin water film forms on the glass, which freezes in the form of dendrites during crystallization.

Trichites - fibrous structures - form on the sharp edges of scratches on the glass. In this case, at first, narrow parallel stripes are formed, and as a result of further cooling, a kind of "fibers" depart from them. In modern double-glazed windows, thermal insulation prevents frost from drawing patterns on the glass. So with great pleasure we lean to the windows, on which we see winter painting, remembering the happy moments of our childhood. Do you also like to look at winter art on glass?

I'm sure he has more important things to do! So, romantic dreamers are leaving, and I will tell cold-blooded know-it-alls where the chanterelles on the windows come from ... And I will also reveal the secret of how to make them yourself!

Who paints windows with silver in winter?

What charms does winter use! The patterns on the windows are perhaps some of the most impressive. However, frosty pictures on glass are almost the same as frost on grass and trees. In any case, the principle of their formation is the same.

Air, depending on its temperature, can contain a certain amount of water in the form of water vapor. The absorption of water by air decreases with decreasing temperature.

In other words, when it gets cold, the humidity in the air decreases. Therefore, the excess vapor contained in it settles on cold surfaces, that is, it condenses.

“But then water droplets will form or dew will fall out,” you can rightly note, and you will be absolutely right.

If the temperature is above zero, yes! Frost or silver patterns on glass appear only when humid air is cooled to a temperature of 0 ° C and below.

It was then that the water vapor, as if by magic, from a gaseous state is immediately transformed into a solid, bypassing the liquid state and turning into small ice crystals. This process is called desublimation.

Explaining this phenomenon to You, I remembered an interesting winter riddle. Apparently, its author with physics would be on you. Can you guess?

- A drop! Shame, cool down, grow.
Build ice bridges overnight.

Where do bizarre patterns come from?

We figured out how winter flowers form on the windows. Feel free to praise yourself! But how do ordinary ice crystals manage to create such bizarre designs?

Blame it all - scratches and unevenness of glass surfaces... It is on them that crystals first of all settle: next to each other, on top of several floors or on the sides - as necessary. This is how ordinary ice turns into filigree patterns. They give strangeness and dust deposited on glass, and various air currents(drafts, wind). This is why each pattern is so unusual and unique.

It is also interesting that different subzero temperatures affect the formation of crystals in different ways. If the thermometer reads just below 0 ° C, the ice crystals are in the shape of a prism-hexagon. In light frosts (up to ─15 ° C), they look like rectangular plates. If it is cold outside, the crystal ice will resemble needles with blunt ends.

What types of frosty patterns are there?

The variety of frosty chanterelles is amazing, but most often the glass of our windows shines with tree-like structures - dendrites or fibrous formations - trichitams.

If the glass begins to cool down even at positive temperatures and high air humidity, then the water film formed on it will crystallize in the form of dendrites. It is not surprising that the most beautiful and fluffy patterns appear at the bottom of the window, because a lot of water traditionally accumulates there.

Trichites are formed in places of glass scratches and roughness. At first, various (often parallel) crystalline stripes appear, and with subsequent cooling, many curved fibers begin to depart from the main stripes. Due to a decrease in temperature, trichites turn into dense ice fibers.

Making frost at home

Turning the kitchen into a home frost factory? Easy!

You will need:

• rock salt,
• large tin can,
• crumbled piece of ice.

It's that simple! Place two glasses of ice chips in the jar. Pour a glass of salt on top. Add two glasses of crushed ice and a glass of salt again. Now wait. In a short time, tiny droplets of water contained in the air will cover the outer walls of the can, turning into lace of ice crystals. And then the whole vessel will put on a thin frost coat. Fantasy!

How to get rid of frosty drawings on the windows?

If you want to get rid of annoying frosty patterns, I will understand you perfectly. Perhaps everyone is familiar with the situation: you go in a minibus, and instead of the necessary stop there are only silver carpets in the windows. Inconvenient! In this case, the glass is treated with special chemical solutions. And indoors, they reinforce thermal insulation and place them near a container with salt.

To prevent your windows from obscuring frosty drawings, follow these simple rules:

• ventilate the house regularly;
• do not clutter up the windowsill with unnecessary items;
• remember about high-quality and regular heating (warm air can hold more moisture);
• before freezing, wipe the glass of windows with an aqueous solution of ammonia (it is better to entrust it to mom).