Why does 1 inch of rain equal 10 inches of snow?

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Is this conversion even right? I found it on google with little explanation. One inch of rain seems minuscule to 10 inches of snow but maybe I have a fundamental misunderstanding of how much one inch of rain actually is. Please help.

In: Chemistry

10 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I believe it’s density. Snow is water yes, but it’s full of air. Imagine a pool filled with water and a pool filled with snow. The pool will be full with both, but if you were check the mass of both, the water will have many more particles then the snow due to all the tiny air pockets within the snow. The air is a big reason why snow is fluffy/crunchy/squishy etc.

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