Snowman peeking out from behind a candy cane

About this drawing

A snowman peeking out from a snowy scene is a good excuse to look closely at snow itself. Every flake is made of clear ice, yet a field of fresh snow looks bright white.

The reason is light. Each snowflake has countless tiny edges and surfaces. When sunlight hits a snowbank, it bounces off one crystal after another and scatters in every direction. Because all colors of light are reflected about equally, our eyes see the mix as white.

Fresh snow has another surprising talent: it soaks up sound. Between the flakes are lots of little air pockets, and those pockets trap sound waves a bit like acoustic foam in a recording studio. That is why a neighborhood can feel unusually hushed after a big snowfall.

Snow changes as it ages. Once it gets packed down or partly melts and refreezes, it loses much of that air. It stops absorbing as much sound, turns denser and starts to squeak or crunch underfoot on very cold days. Slightly wet, packed snow is also the best kind for snowballs and for building a snowman.

• snowman
• snow
• winter
• candy cane