Winter has many symbols, which, just looking at them, remind us of clear cold days, the sun sparkling on the snowdrifts, exciting games and fun in the fresh frosty air, and also ice patterns on glass.
What kind of masterpieces you won’t see on the inside surface of a window when it’s frosty 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 ferns, and pine forests, and what else a spellbound viewer of a winter patterned creation might see.
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 three of its forms: solid, liquid and gaseous, within external environment with an insignificant, in general chemical concept, temperature change from 0 to 100 degrees.
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When there is humidity 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 liquid, but when it is lower, passing through the liquid state, it becomes ice, or rather its tiny crystals. When the room is warm, any moisture that finds itself near the window glass, behind which it is freezing, turns into micro-ice, falling on the cooled surface. This is all clear, but where do such unique and varied patterns come from?
Every glass is not perfectly clean: it retains dust particles, small scratches, fingerprints, and all kinds of “traces” of environmental influences. The moisture that gets on the glass is also not distilled. Therefore, regular ice crystals with six sides, which are formed in laboratories, cannot appear on glass. Crystals grow along the edges of surface microcracks, around dust particles and other inclusions. A film of moisture, even a very thin one, tends downwards according to the laws of physics, so in the lower part of the glass the ice formations are always denser, and at the top they are more openwork and patterned. The direction of air flow near 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 deposited 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 natural creations are subject to identical laws, i.e. the way chemical crystals are formed, the cells of living organisms are formed and arranged according to the same principles. That is why some glass patterns resemble pristine tropical forests. Well, scientists cannot live 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 pride themselves on their constant temperatures, no longer provide the opportunity to enjoy artistic painting frost. But they say that our famous lacemakers from Vologda and Kostroma took the subjects for their extraordinary lace of fine workmanship, looking at the frozen window in winter...
Frost patterns on window glass - this is essentially the same as frost that forms on the ground and on tree branches. The mechanism for the formation of frost and these patterns is the same.
If the air cools, its moisture content decreases. Frosty patterns on glass and needles of frost are formed when 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, turns into tiny ice crystals. Thus, water contained in humid air at 0°C passes from a gaseous state to a solid (crystalline) state, bypassing the liquid phase.
Why do ice crystals form such bizarre shapes? This is due to unevenness and scratches on the surface of the glass. Ice crystals form on them first. The crystals are deposited one after another, on top of each other - and amazing, unique patterns are obtained. In addition to glass unevenness, dust particles on the glass surface and air currents also participate 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 more water accumulates there under the influence of gravity. That is why in the lower part of window glass the dendrites are usually larger, and the higher they are, the thinner and smaller the ice “branches” are. If the glass is moistened evenly during cooling, that is, covered with a more or less even film of water, then the “branches” of dendrites are approximately equal 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 - trichites. First, narrow parallel crystalline stripes are formed. With further cooling, fibers appear, extending from the main “stem”. 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 glass in winter? Can!
We have already said that an indispensable condition for the formation of frosty patterns is an increased moisture content in the air and cold glass. If any of these factors are excluded, Santa Claus will not be able to decorate window glass with his paintings.
For example, you can reduce the air humidity near the surface of the glass, then water condensation will not occur on it. To do this, you can place a glass of concentrated sulfuric acid between the window panes - it is known that it absorbs moisture from the air well.
The second way is to prevent the glass from getting too cold. This is done by carefully insulating the outer window glass where it comes into contact with the frame.
Accustoming children to beauty from childhood is a very important task. One way is drawing.
Today we will try to answer the question:
“How can you teach a child to draw frosty pictures on paper?”
In order to start drawing we will need:
- a sheet of paper of at least A4 format;
- simple pencil;
- eraser;
- gouache paints and brushes.
Instructions
- We give a shade of cold blue by diluting the blue paint with water. We go over the entire sheet of paint, creating a background. It is important to shade the background correctly; the top of the sheet should be lighter than the bottom.
- After the sheet has dried, mark the design with a pencil all over the sheet. We draw a chaotic pattern with thin, needle-like petals. We use our imagination and try to make different patterns.
- We take blue paint and draw our pattern with a thin brush.
- Next we add contrast with bright white paint here and there. It is very important to “whiten” the drawing in the central part and on the left.
- When the drawing is dry, add neat ones in places. circles of orange and pale blue colors. This will allow you to create a play of colors in the drawing.
As you can see, drawing a frosty pattern is not that difficult.
You might be interested in learning how to learn to draw :
- How to draw winter with a pencil step by step for children?
- How to draw Masha and the bear with a pencil step by step?
- How to draw a horse step by step with a pencil?
Everywhere turned white overnight
And there is a miracle in our apartment!
Outside the window the forest disappeared -
A magical forest has grown there! 
Frosty patterns on glass are a well-known and common phenomenon in winter; almost no one pays attention to them and even measures are taken to prevent them from appearing on windows. 
Why do frosty patterns appear?
"TO KNOW THE INVISIBLE, LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE VISIBLE"
If the glass has a negative temperature, and the inside of the room (or between the glasses) has a positive temperature, then instead of condensation (the process of water transitioning from a gaseous state to a liquid), a sublimation process will take place on the surface of the glass (the growth of crystals from the gas phase, bypassing the liquid state ). 
The process takes place in the form of an increase in stripes (lines) of crystalline water, which randomly intersect with each other, which creates a unique pattern on the glass. 
With high-quality glass sealing, patterns do not appear on the glass, because no temperature difference.
And by the way - as a result of the process of sublimation (I repeat - this is a transition from one state to another, bypassing the intermediate one) snowflakes and hail from thunderclouds are formed. 
Frosty patterns are simple in their chemical composition, but are very diverse. Tree-like formations and wavy structures are most common. They resemble grass, fern or palm leaves, spruce branches. 
The nature of the patterns is light, airy, joyful. The ice patterns are very beautiful and they say they serve as models for our northern lacemakers. These patterns are found in Vologda lace, in down scarves and headscarves. 
What kind of master is this?
Applied to glass
And leaves and grass
And thickets of roses... 
You can see in the frosty window
How a deer wanders through a magical land
Birds soar in the sparkling air
Fluffy snowflakes fly quietly 
On a window silver with frost,
The chrysanthemums bloomed overnight.
In the upper windows - the sky is light blue
And getting stuck in the snow dust
(Zastrakha - in peasant huts: the lower, hanging edge of the roof, as well as the beam supporting the lower edge of the roof. There is a swallow's nest under the zashrekha)
This work of nature does not last long - the sun begins to warm up and the frosty patterns become less clear, blur and flow in streams of water down the glass.
You can try to make the following patterns for yourself at home: First, prepare a colloidal solution: add 3-5 g of dry gelatin to a quarter glass of cold water and let it swell well. Heat the water to 50 degrees in a water bath and make sure that the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Ice patterns can be preserved on this jelly. Pour the still warm solution onto a piece of glass and immediately place it in the freezer. The water will crystallize, like on windows in winter. After three days, take it out and let the gelatin thaw. It will leave a clear pattern of ice crystals.
Every winter you can see the magnificent patterns created by the frost on the windows. They are very diverse and intricate, mysterious and simply magnificent.
How are ice patterns formed on glass?
The indoor air 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 steam begins to condense into dew. Small ice crystals form and ice patterns 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 cleanliness play a role.
First, frost patterns form on the surface of the glass, and when their thickness becomes so large that the transfer of heat to the outside slows down, the ice patterns begin to grow in thickness.
“Vegetable” patterns appear with high humidity and a gradual decrease in temperature. First, the glass becomes wet, and then the moisture freezes, forming bizarre “thickets.” The process starts from the bottom of the glass because more water collects there. Yes, and the pattern there is larger, and towards the top it becomes smaller.
If the cooling process was fast, and the moisture did not have time to flow down the glass, then the “woody” pattern throughout the window will be the same size.
Window glass cannot be perfectly even and smooth; they almost always have small defects and scratches. They 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 frosty patterns on the window appear when certain conditions are met, it means that if you change them, the glass will remain clean. Reduce the air humidity or prevent the glass from cooling too much (make the window well insulated) and Frost will not draw anything on your window.
