how do hailstones form and how do they make it to the ground so uniformly round and smooth?

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how do hailstones form and how do they make it to the ground so uniformly round and smooth?

In: Physics

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They start as raindrops that get blown upwards via the strong updraft from a thunderstorm. Up high in the cloud, the drop freezes and then falls back down. It often picks up another layer of rain water and gets tossed back up into the top of the storm
To freeze again.

This goes on and on until the stone is too heavy for the updraft to toss it back up.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The drops of water naturally form spheres. Water is very cohesive and has a high surface tension, it tends to stick to itself, and the shape with the least ratio of volume/surface area is a sphere.