In Toronto last night there was a big storm and today the sun’s out melting everything; shovelling today’s wet snow feels much more difficult than yesterday
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There’s loads of empty air in dry snow. Wet snow it’s just heavy due to additional water.
Imagine a towel dry vs wet , same volume different weight
When water turns to ice it expands (takes up more space) but doesn’t get any heavier since there isnt any matter being added to it. Therefore, it is less dense. Density is just a ratio of how much space something takes up versus how much it actually weighs. Something that takes up very little space but weighs a lot is considered more dense, whereas something light and spacious would be less dense.
If you’re talking about an equal volume (how much space it takes up) of two materials, whichever is denser will be heavier, so ice that has been melting or rained on will likely weigh more since it has more liquid matter per cubic inch than powdery fresh snow, for example.
Snow is mostly air. Fresh snow is about 10 times more voluminous than water for the same mass, so 10 times lighter for the same volume. (This is mostly due to air, ice is slightly less dense than water, but by a relatively small percentage, not 10 times).
When snow partially melts or receives water, the water replaces some of the air and makes it denser. Snow will also get denser if you compact it, though not as much as if you had water because you won’t compact enough to remove most of the air.
Snow is mostly air. Fresh snow is about 10 times more voluminous than water for the same mass, so 10 times lighter for the same volume. (This is mostly due to air, ice is slightly less dense than water, but by a relatively small percentage, not 10 times).
When snow partially melts or receives water, the water replaces some of the air and makes it denser. Snow will also get denser if you compact it, though not as much as if you had water because you won’t compact enough to remove most of the air.
Wet snow occupies more volume than light fluffy cold snow.
Volume is a measure of the amount of space that a substance or object occupies or that is enclosed within a container.
Wet snow occurs when at any point during the snow falling from the atmosphere to the surface, the temperature gets above freezing. This causes snowflakes to melt and stick together creating heavy, wet snow. The more a snowflake melts, the heavier it becomes due to its higher water content and volume.
Wet snow occupies more volume than light fluffy cold snow.
Volume is a measure of the amount of space that a substance or object occupies or that is enclosed within a container.
Wet snow occurs when at any point during the snow falling from the atmosphere to the surface, the temperature gets above freezing. This causes snowflakes to melt and stick together creating heavy, wet snow. The more a snowflake melts, the heavier it becomes due to its higher water content and volume.
Snow is mostly air. Fresh snow is about 10 times more voluminous than water for the same mass, so 10 times lighter for the same volume. (This is mostly due to air, ice is slightly less dense than water, but by a relatively small percentage, not 10 times).
When snow partially melts or receives water, the water replaces some of the air and makes it denser. Snow will also get denser if you compact it, though not as much as if you had water because you won’t compact enough to remove most of the air.
Liquid water is more dense than ice. That’s why ice cubes and icebergs float, and when you freeze a bottle of water it can expand and crack the bottle.
Therefore the same volume of water will weigh more than the same volume of ice.
But beyond this, pure powdery snow also has alot of trapped air, so it’s lighter. Think of it like a dry sponge. When the snow melts, the water fills up the space and the same volume feels heavier because there is in fact more ice and water.
Wet snow occupies more volume than light fluffy cold snow.
Volume is a measure of the amount of space that a substance or object occupies or that is enclosed within a container.
Wet snow occurs when at any point during the snow falling from the atmosphere to the surface, the temperature gets above freezing. This causes snowflakes to melt and stick together creating heavy, wet snow. The more a snowflake melts, the heavier it becomes due to its higher water content and volume.
Liquid water is more dense than ice. That’s why ice cubes and icebergs float, and when you freeze a bottle of water it can expand and crack the bottle.
Therefore the same volume of water will weigh more than the same volume of ice.
But beyond this, pure powdery snow also has alot of trapped air, so it’s lighter. Think of it like a dry sponge. When the snow melts, the water fills up the space and the same volume feels heavier because there is in fact more ice and water.
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