Spectrum Scientifics Blog

With Philadelphia’s THIRD snowstorm of the winter bearing down on us as this blog post is being written it seems like as good a time as any to talk about the fun snow science experiments of viewing snowflakes in a microscope! It is simple and fun to do! You can even photograph them!

The question of how to view snowflakes basically depends on how much you want to endure the cold and the snow. If you can put up with it, you can view real snowflakes, otherwise you are going to be viewing impressions of snowflakes in a clear material and it can take a lot longer.

Viewing snowflakes in the snow is fairly simple but does involve some preparation. You need a microscope that you can use outdoors (in the snow) and some flat glass slides. Ahead of the snowstorm, get some of the slides in the freezer or leave out into cold weather under some shelter. The idea here is to get the glass very cold so the flakes do not melt, while at the same time keeping any moisture off the slides that might fog it up.

If you can, try to build some kind of open ended shelter for your microscope. Something with a roof to keep the snow off the eyepieces. You can use any microscope for this but cordless models with LEDs avoid complex wiring and heat from lamps that might melt your snowflakes. Be sure the microscope can handle the harsh weather as well.

The process? Simply catch some snowflakes on the cold slides and then view them under your microscope. Try not to breath on your microscope while viewing as this can fog up the lenses. Try to catch the smaller flakes and the bigger ones are usually multiple flakes stuck together. Dry snow works much better than ‘wet’ snow.

Keep in mind even with all the best preparation in the world your snowflakes might still melt before you get a chance to view them, let alone photograph them.

The Superglue Technique

OK, not so big on standing out in the cold weather? Well there is another method that takes more time, but the only other materials you need are some superglue (liquid, preferably the kind in drop bottles) and some slide coverslips, as well as your home’s freezer. These should all be cold and left outside in the cold weather or in the freezer before hand.

Same trick as before: take the cold slides and catch some snowflakes. But then put a drop of superglue on top of the snowflake, then put a cover slip on top of the glue and press gently. Keep in mind putting the glue and coverslip on can be very tricky when wearing gloves (or with bare hands in the cold!) and cold superglue doesn’t just come right out of the bottle easily. Now get that stuff inside and into the freezer. Don’t dawdle once you go indoors or your snowflake will melt before the superglue hardens!

Leave the snowflake slides in the freezer for a few weeks while the superglue hardens. Once it does, you can take the slide out and put them right on your microscope!

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Filed under: Microscope, Uncategorized, Weather