How to get patterns on glass from frost. Winter patterns on glass, painted with frost. Why there are no patterns on plastic windows

15.12.2020

With the advent of winter, we often observe how magical patterns form on our windows, which sometimes make up landscapes of extraordinary beauty. Even as a child, we were told that these amazing pictures at night are painted, with his magic brush, by none other than Santa Claus. And, despite the fact that this is a fairy tale, it becomes light and warm in the soul.

What are frost patterns? Frosty patterns are a cluster of tiny ice crystals. Scientists have found that the type of lace painting on the windows is very diverse - their number reaches several million. A variety of paintings can be depicted on the windows: flowers, trees, leaves, animals, people, birds, etc. This is such a delicate work that even the jewelers themselves would envy.

Today, there is not a single person who would not contemplate this magnificent and mysterious phenomenon. But few asked the question: how and why does this happen?

In fact, these extraordinarily magical frosty patterns on glass are the result of the condensation of water vapor. As you know, at sub-zero temperatures, water begins to crystallize, which is what happens on the windows.

The main reason for the formation of ice crystals is very high humidity and glass cooling for a long time.

As mentioned above, there are a very large number of varieties of ice patterns, but most often you can find patterns of tree-like forms (dendrites) and fibrous forms (trichites). However, all types of winter landscapes appear on our windows due to different conditions of formation, condition and cooling of water vapor.

It has been recorded that at temperatures ranging from zero to minus 6 degrees inclusive, lacy patterns appear on the glass in the form of a uniform layer of loose ice. The first ice crystals are formed in the smallest chips and cracks, after which they gradually begin to grow over the entire surface, creating fantastic patterns on the windows.

Scientists have found that dendrites appear on glass under conditions of very high humidity and a fairly warm room temperature. Initially, a thin water film appears on the windows, and only then does crystallization occur, because there is a larger layer of water in the lower part of the window. It is here that the creation of amazing frosty paintings takes place. But with a lack of moisture, tiny dendrites appear on the windows. On the sharp edges of glasses, where cracks or chips often form, as a rule, trichitis is formed.

Although the magnificent frosty patterns on the windows reduce the transmission of sunlight from our glasses, they are still unusually fantastic. If someone does not like such masterpieces, then this can be easily prevented. To do this, you only need to put a container of salt on the windowsill and then the patterns will not appear. With the advent of metal-plastic windows, it became very difficult to see such beauty, because along with this, energy-saving glasses appeared, in which the degree of thermal insulation is much higher than that of ordinary ones.

The symbol of winter in past centuries was not only severe frosts and snowdrifts, but also ice patterns on the windows, which, according to an old belief, are drawn by Santa Claus himself. Ice crystals form on the glass into unique pictures in which you can see the thicket, unusual animals, fabulous trees and flowers, the sea, stars. In order for ice gardens to bloom on the windows, it is necessary that the air in the room is humid, and the temperature outside the window is below zero.

Why do frosty patterns appear on the window

Everyone remembers the parable that Santa Claus draws frosty patterns on the window. He imperceptibly sneaks up to the window at night and draws unique frosty pictures on it with a thin ice brush. In fact, everything is much more prosaic. If there is humid air in the room, and the temperature outside is from zero degrees Celsius and below, then excess moisture condenses on the cold surface of the window glass. Here, the water vapor cools and passes from a vaporous state to a solid state, forming thin crystals.

Any perfect in appearance has microscopic notches and scratches. The moisture that settles on the surface of the glass crystallizes first of all on these smallest defects, and only then new and new ones cling to the first crystals, forming patterns. Sometimes, for the appearance of ice patterns, there are enough dust particles with which the surface of the glass is dotted, or streaks that remain after washing the windows. And drafts and air currents contribute to the appearance of patterns. According to the method of formation, frost patterns are divided into two types: dendrites - branching patterns that resemble trees, and trichites, which are more like stars.

Why are there no patterns on plastic windows?

Patterns on windows in a frosty winter appear when water vapor from the air condenses on the surface of cold glass and then crystallizes, forming ice. In other words, the glass and the layer of surrounding air must be sufficiently cold. Plastic windows have better thermal insulation properties than wooden windows, so the temperature of the glass on the inside is higher. Consequently, condensation with crystallization proceeds worse. Simply put, old wooden windows "breathe" and the cold enters the apartments, and patterns form from the temperature difference.

Old wooden windows are double-framed with single panes without insulating glass. The frames are not airtight, between them (and therefore between the glasses) there is ordinary room air, on the cold glass there are processes of moisture condensation and crystallization. And in PVC windows they use - two or three glasses, hermetically glued. Between the glass panes of a double-glazed window is not humid room air, but dry, cleaned of dust and moisture or an inert gas. So it turns out that there is nothing to condense on the coldest outer glass - there is no moisture in the double-glazed unit chamber, and patterns do not form on the inner glass, since it is too warm.

There is another reason: old wooden windows, as a rule, are “dirtier” than PVC windows, that is, there is more dust on the surface of such glasses, namely, water crystallizes on dust particles.

If ice patterns appear on PVC windows, this means that the windows are not installed quite correctly, they are not sufficiently sealed with a special rubber band, the double-glazed window is not tight ... Contact

Every winter, you can see magnificent patterns on the windows that the frost has painted. They are very diverse and intricate, mysterious and simply magnificent.

How are ice patterns formed on glass?

The air in the room is much warmer than outside, and the humidity is lower. But near glass, sometimes the temperature can be below the dew point, that is, the value when the steam begins to condense into dew. Small ice crystals form and ice drawings appear on the window.

Why are ice patterns always different?

Because the conditions inside the room and outside are changeable: temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed. Even the thickness of the glass and its purity play a role.

First, frost patterns form on the surface of the glass, and when their thickness becomes so large that the removal of heat to the outside slows down, then ice patterns begin to grow in thickness.

"Plant" patterns appear at high humidity and a gradual decrease in temperature. First, the glass becomes wet, and then the moisture freezes, forming bizarre "thickets". The process starts at the bottom of the glass as more water collects there. Yes, and the picture there is larger, and towards the top it becomes smaller.

If the cooling process was fast, and the moisture did not have time to drain down the glass, then the “woody” pattern throughout the window will be the same size.

Window panes cannot be perfectly even and smooth; they almost always have minor defects and scratches. They also contribute to the formation of another frosty pattern. First, ice crystals appear along the scratch, forming a strip, and then curved stems begin to branch off from it.

Since the frosty patterns on the window appear under certain conditions, it means that if you change them, the glass will remain clean. Lower the air humidity or prevent the glass from cooling too much (make a good thermal insulation of the window) and Frost will not draw anything on your window.

Winter has many symbols, which at one glance at them remind us of clear cold days, the sun sparkling on snowdrifts, outrageous games and fun in the fresh air. frosty air, and also ice patterns on glass.

What kind of masterpieces you will not see on the inner surface of the window when it is cold outside! People with a developed imagination, and even simple observers, see winter painted landscapes and ornaments that can cover the entire surface of the glass or creep in from the corners, framing the view from the window. There are spruce branches, and snowy plains, and thickets of fern, and pine forests, and what the bewitched viewer of the winter patterned creation does not yet dream of.

In fact, all this beauty is a natural manifestation of physical phenomena. The main participant in the process is water, a well-known combination of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen (H 2 O), which is famous for the fact that it can take on its three incarnations: solid, liquid and gaseous, within external environment with a slight, in the general chemical concept, temperature change from 0 to 100 degrees.

When there is moisture in the air and the temperature drops below zero, the moisture gradually condenses on the cooled surfaces. I immediately remember how in the heat all kinds of bottles cooled in refrigerators sweat invitingly. When the temperature is above 0, water vapor transforms into a liquid, but when it is lower, passing the liquid state, it becomes ice, or rather its tiny crystals. When the room is warm, any moisture that is near the window glass, behind which it is cold, turns into micro-ices, falling on the exposed surface. With this, everything is clear, but where do such unique and diverse patterns come from?

Each glass is not perfectly clean: it contains dust particles, small scratches, touch marks, all kinds of "traces" of environmental influences. The moisture that gets on the glass is also not distilled. Therefore, regular ice crystals with six faces, which are formed in laboratories, cannot appear on glasses. Crystals grow along the edges of surface microcracks, around dust particles and other inclusions. A film of moisture, even a very thin one, tends downward according to the laws of physics, therefore, ice formations are always denser in the lower part of the glass, and more openwork and patterned at the top. The direction of air flow at the glass surface also matters. While there is not too much water, the curls are thinner and more delicate, with an increase in the amount of moisture that has settled on the glass, the crystals begin to grow not only on the plane, but also in volume, covering the pattern with a dense white veil.

Some scientists even came up with the idea that all the universes of nature obey identical laws, i.e. the way chemical crystals are formed, the cells of living organisms are formed and lined up according to the same principles. That is why some of the glass patterns resemble primeval rainforests. Well, scientists cannot do without a flight of fancy, because this served as the beginning of many discoveries.

It remains only to note with some sadness that modern double-glazed windows, which are proud of their constancy of temperatures, no longer make it possible to enjoy the artistic painting of frost. But they say that our famous lace-makers from Vologda and Kostroma took plots for their extraordinary fine work of lace, glancing at the frozen window in winter ...

Frost patterns on windowpanes are essentially the same as the frost that forms on the ground and on tree branches. The mechanism of frost formation and these patterns is the same.

As the air cools, its moisture content decreases. Frosty patterns on glass and frost needles are formed if moist air is cooled to the freezing point of water, that is, to 0 ° C. At this temperature, excess moisture contained in humid air condenses on cold surfaces. In this case, the water crystallizes, that is, it turns into the smallest ice crystals. Thus, the water contained in humid air at 0°C passes from the gaseous state to the solid (crystalline), bypassing the liquid phase.

Why do ice crystals form such bizarre shapes? This is due to bumps and scratches on the glass surface. On them, ice crystals are formed in the first place. Crystals are deposited one after another, on top of each other - and amazing unique patterns are obtained. In addition to glass irregularities, dust particles on the glass surface and air currents are involved in the "drawing" of patterns.

Among the variety of frosty patterns, the most common are tree-like structures - they are called dendrites and fibrous forms - trichites.

Dendrites are formed if the air humidity is increased, and the cooling of the glass began at a positive temperature and continued with a further decrease in temperature. In this case, a water film first forms on the glass, which, when frozen, crystallizes in the form of dendrites. Most often, this process begins at the bottom of the glass, because there, under the influence of gravity, more water accumulates. That is why the dendrites in the lower part of the window panes are usually larger, and the higher, the thinner and smaller the ice "branches". If the glass is evenly moistened during cooling, that is, it is covered with a more or less even film of water, then the "branches" of dendrites are approximately the same in size over the entire surface of the glass.

If there are scratches on the glass, then a second type of pattern is formed on their sharp edges - trichitis. First, narrow parallel crystalline stripes form. With further cooling, the fibers extending from the main "stem" appear. Most often, both the "stem" and the "fibers" extending from it are not straight, but slightly curved.

Is it possible to prevent frosty patterns from appearing on window panes in winter? Can!

We have already said that an indispensable condition for the formation of frost patterns is an increased moisture content in the air and cold glass. If you exclude any of these factors, Santa Claus will not be able to decorate window panes with his paintings.

So, for example, you can reduce the humidity of the air near the glass surface, then water condensation on it will not occur. To do this, you can put a glass of concentrated sulfuric acid between the window panes - it is known that it absorbs moisture from the air well.