credit: Stephen Morris, The Experimental Nonlinear Group, Dept. of Physics, University of Toronto; image source; larger image

Ripples on Icicles

Notice the characteristic ripples on the icicle--see Ripples on Icicles for videos showing how these ripples form.  Visit Ice, Ice, Baby! and Geomefreeze to find out more about how icicles grow. To learn about the physics of freezing and melting water, see the Hyperphysics page Phase Changes.

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Make-a-Flake

Visit Make-a-Flake to design your own snowflake and investigate symmetry. You'll see a piece of paper fold on the screen, and then you cut the paper with electronic scissors.  When the paper is unfolded, you'll see your design, with the same symmetry as a snowflake.

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credit: SnowCrystals.com; image source; larger image

A Snow Crystal Primer

You can learn about snowflake physics at SnowCrystals.com by Kenneth Libbrecht at Caltech.  To see U.S. postage stamps with some of Professor Libbrecht's images, visit USPS News.

Stalactite

Although stalactites result from a chemical reaction and icicles from a physical change, they share a common form.  For time-lapse photos of a simulation of stalactite formation, with a model stalagmite growing underneath, see Stalactite.