How to Build the Best Snowman According to Science
True Story: The title of the 8,011,991st US patent is “Bigfoot / Woman Construction Facilitator,” which certainly implies that there is a correct way to build a snowman, snowman, or snowman.
But sometimes, no matter how much snow falls, you simply cannot draw Frosty, Olaf or Leon correctly (you know, the gorgeous snowman in Elf). His body crumbles, or his head falls off, or one part refuses to grow, no matter how much snow you add, resulting in less snowman and more snow doll.
This is where science comes in. Different snowfalls have different physical properties, and a little knowledge of the physics of your snowballs will help too.
Snow matters
It is not the size of the snowflake that matters, but its moisture content. Snow comes in five categories based on the amount of free water relative to ice crystals, Dan Snowman (yes, that’s his real name ), a physicist at Rhode Island College in Providence, told Smithsonian.com :
- Dry snow without water
- Now wet with less than three percent water
- Wet snow, consisting of three to eight percent water.
- Very wet snow, 8-15 percent water.
- Slush with more than 15 percent water
Try making a snowman out of dry snow and it won’t stick together. Use slush and it’s like sculpting out of water. “The best place you need is Tier 2 and Tier 3 snow,” said Geordie Hendrix, director of the Snow and Avalanche Lab at Montana State University, to Smithsonian.com .
If you’re unsure how to categorize this white backyard blanket, take a look at the temperature. The best snowfall for building snowmen occurs around the freezing point, 32 degrees (bonus points for not having to freeze the tuchus in two degrees of snow).
Location, location, location
Once you’ve determined that you have the right raw materials for your snow masterpiece, you need to find a suitable place to build. Here are some considerations:
- You want a flat surface, but avoid tarmac – it absorbs sunlight, so your snowman is more likely to melt in your driveway.
- A flat spot at the foot of the hill will keep your Bigfoot cool and out of the sun, but it could be fatal for sledding.
- It is best to bet on a flat area of the yard close to your home to keep out the sun.
Form matters
There’s a reason why most of the snowmen you see are made up of spheres: according to the Smithsonian, spheres are the best body shape for a person made of snow:
The formation of snowballs and the stacking of snow together put pressure on the ice crystals so that some of them melt during construction. “After melting, the water crystallizes again, binding the snowball,” notes Snowman.
The spheres will keep your snowman stable and will also help him stay on him longer: the spheres melt more slowly than other forms, because they are minimally exposed to sunlight.
The snowman also notes that the standard rule for folding snowballs – large at the base, medium in the middle, small at the head – is the best way to keep the snowman upright. The lower the center of mass (the point at which you can hold the snowman horizontally on your finger) is in relation to the ground, the better.
Size matters
Students at Bluefield State College in West Virginia have even come up with the ideal ratio for snow cover : bottom-up, 3: 2: 1, but try not to make the snowballs too big.
There may be an upper limit to the size of the spheres associated with the water content of the snow. “As the snowball grows, it becomes more difficult to apply pressure to pack things properly,” says Snowman. “This could potentially lead to an unstable structure in Frosty’s body parts and could lead to catastrophic failure.”