A snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands and pressing the snow together to compact it into a ball. [1] Snowballs are often used in games such as snowball fights.
A snowball may also be a large ball of snow formed by rolling a smaller snowball on a snow-covered surface. The smaller snowball grows by picking up additional snow as it rolls. The terms " snowball effect" and "snowballing" are derived from this process. The Welsh dance " Y Gasseg Eira" also takes its name from an analogy with rolling a large snowball. [2] This method of forming a large snowball is often used to create the components needed to build a snowman.
The underlying physical process that makes snowballs possible is sintering, in which a solid mass is compacted while near the melting point. [3] Scientific theories about snowball formation began with a lecture by Michael Faraday in 1842, examining the attractive forces between ice particles. An influential early explanation by James Thomson invoked regelation, in which a solid is melted by pressure and then re-frozen. [4]
When forming a snowball by packing, the pressure exerted by the hands on the snow is a determinant for the final result. Reduced pressure leads to a light and soft snowball. Compacting humid or "packing" snow by applying a high pressure produces a harder snowball, sometimes called an ice ball, which can injure an opponent during a snowball fight.
Temperature is important for snowball formation. It is hard to make a good snowball if the snow is too cold. [1] In addition, snowballs are difficult to form with a dry powdery snow. In temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F), there is little free water in the snow, which leads to crumbly snowballs. At 0 °C (32 °F) or above, melted water in the snow results in a better cohesion. [5] Above a certain temperature, however, the snowball too easily becomes slush, which lacks mechanical strength and no longer sticks together. [6] This effect is used in the rule that, in skiing areas, there is a high risk of avalanche if it is possible to squeeze water out of a snowball. [7]
Under certain unusual circumstances, natural snowballs form as a result of wind, without human intervention. These circumstances are: [8]
In Antarctica, small windblown frost balls form through a different process that relies on electrostatic attraction; [9] these wind-rolled frost balls are known as yukimarimo.
Under other rare circumstances, in coastal and river areas, wave action on ice and snow may create beach snowballs or ball ice. [10]
A snowball that turns into a child is a protagonist in a 1969 children's fantasy novel, The Snowball, by Barbara Sleigh. [11]
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A snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands and pressing the snow together to compact it into a ball. [1] Snowballs are often used in games such as snowball fights.
A snowball may also be a large ball of snow formed by rolling a smaller snowball on a snow-covered surface. The smaller snowball grows by picking up additional snow as it rolls. The terms " snowball effect" and "snowballing" are derived from this process. The Welsh dance " Y Gasseg Eira" also takes its name from an analogy with rolling a large snowball. [2] This method of forming a large snowball is often used to create the components needed to build a snowman.
The underlying physical process that makes snowballs possible is sintering, in which a solid mass is compacted while near the melting point. [3] Scientific theories about snowball formation began with a lecture by Michael Faraday in 1842, examining the attractive forces between ice particles. An influential early explanation by James Thomson invoked regelation, in which a solid is melted by pressure and then re-frozen. [4]
When forming a snowball by packing, the pressure exerted by the hands on the snow is a determinant for the final result. Reduced pressure leads to a light and soft snowball. Compacting humid or "packing" snow by applying a high pressure produces a harder snowball, sometimes called an ice ball, which can injure an opponent during a snowball fight.
Temperature is important for snowball formation. It is hard to make a good snowball if the snow is too cold. [1] In addition, snowballs are difficult to form with a dry powdery snow. In temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F), there is little free water in the snow, which leads to crumbly snowballs. At 0 °C (32 °F) or above, melted water in the snow results in a better cohesion. [5] Above a certain temperature, however, the snowball too easily becomes slush, which lacks mechanical strength and no longer sticks together. [6] This effect is used in the rule that, in skiing areas, there is a high risk of avalanche if it is possible to squeeze water out of a snowball. [7]
Under certain unusual circumstances, natural snowballs form as a result of wind, without human intervention. These circumstances are: [8]
In Antarctica, small windblown frost balls form through a different process that relies on electrostatic attraction; [9] these wind-rolled frost balls are known as yukimarimo.
Under other rare circumstances, in coastal and river areas, wave action on ice and snow may create beach snowballs or ball ice. [10]
A snowball that turns into a child is a protagonist in a 1969 children's fantasy novel, The Snowball, by Barbara Sleigh. [11]
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