Can someone explain this?

[oShux]

I've been seeing videos of people trying to burn snow and instead of it melting it turned black. I never payed attention in science class so yea ._. I've always been more of a Physics person xD

 

[TheSageOfNinetails]

It's just the ash of the materials that mixed with the snow that don't melt.

The water part melts away, leaving the material that can't melt at that temp. to burn.

 

[LED ZEPPELIN]

I've been seeing videos of people trying to burn snow and instead of it melting it turned black. I never payed attention in science class so yea ._. I've always been more of a Physics person xD

dont do kids drugs

 

[Sir Blades]

Physics is science.

 

[oShux]

Physics is science.

I know but I just started taking Physics this year and I haven't been paying attention to science until this year. But in any case this isn't the point of the thread

 

[Arian]

lol if you were the physics guy you would know this xD

 

[YowYan]

I've seen a few vids originating from Colorado (I think) and they melted snow in a pan. It haf a jelly substance. Sketchy. Chemtrail much.

 

[oShux]

lol if you were the physics guy you would know this xD

I just started taking physics U_U

 

[oShux]

I've seen a few vids originating from Colorado (I think) and they melted snow in a pan. It haf a jelly substance. Sketchy. Chemtrail much.

Do you think it might be because of the city cleaner's adding some substance to it to melt the snow? I think that might be the most plausible reason.

 

[Arian]

here you go from "I ****ing love science" on fb^^

There have been several videos going viral this week, showing that snow that doesn’t melt when put into contact with a lighter or a blowtorch. Some videos even show black charring on the snow. To many of these people posting the videos, this appears to be “proof” of chemtrails or that the government is responsible for covering the country in a white mystery substance.

This isn’t a problem with mystery chemicals, it’s a problem with not understanding chemistry. Everyone knows that the three most familiar states of matter are gas, liquid, and solid. Typically, to transition from a solid to a gas, the solid must melt into a liquid, and then vaporize into the gas. However, there is another phase transition known as sublimation that takes a solid directly to a gas. (think: dry ice)

Regular snow can sublimate below the freezing point under certain pressure conditions. This typically happens with cold, dry air, like what is found during the winter. Because this winter has been much drier than previous years for the East Coast, sublimation is achieved more easily.

Though a snowball may seem like a dense unit, it is still just a collection of particles with a high amount of surface area. When these particles come into contact with a much high heat source (like the blowtorch) it is energetically favorable to just sublimate directly into a vapor.

As for the black marks left on the snow? That’s just residue from the lighter/blowtorch/match, as the fuel did not burn cleanly and completely.

 

[oShux]

here you go from "I ****ing love science" on fb^^

There have been several videos going viral this week, showing that snow that doesn’t melt when put into contact with a lighter or a blowtorch. Some videos even show black charring on the snow. To many of these people posting the videos, this appears to be “proof” of chemtrails or that the government is responsible for covering the country in a white mystery substance.

This isn’t a problem with mystery chemicals, it’s a problem with not understanding chemistry. Everyone knows that the three most familiar states of matter are gas, liquid, and solid. Typically, to transition from a solid to a gas, the solid must melt into a liquid, and then vaporize into the gas. However, there is another phase transition known as sublimation that takes a solid directly to a gas. (think: dry ice)

Regular snow can sublimate below the freezing point under certain pressure conditions. This typically happens with cold, dry air, like what is found during the winter. Because this winter has been much drier than previous years for the East Coast, sublimation is achieved more easily.

Though a snowball may seem like a dense unit, it is still just a collection of particles with a high amount of surface area. When these particles come into contact with a much high heat source (like the blowtorch) it is energetically favorable to just sublimate directly into a vapor.

As for the black marks left on the snow? That’s just residue from the lighter/blowtorch/match, as the fuel did not burn cleanly and completely.

Thanks for clearing that up.