How it works:
Insta-Snow, the original Instant Snow, is an amazing superabsorbent polymer that turns ordinary water into a fluffy substance that looks like real snow. This faux snow is so realistic that it is now being used on movie sets and in indoor snowboarding parks. See the picture above of an entire lawn covered in Instant Snow.
The mixologists at Steve Spangler Science coined the name Insta-Snow, the Original Instant Snow. This fake snow is in a classification of chemicals called a polymer. The word polymer simply means long chain of molecules ("poly" means many and "mer" is a unit or molecule). Instant Snow soaks up water using the process of osmosis (water molecules pass through a barrier from one side to the other). When water comes in contact with the polymer, it moves from outside the polymer to the inside and causes it to swell. The polymer chains have an elastic quality, but they can stretch only so far and hold just so much water.
Additional Information:
Great Science Fair Idea - Use Steve Spangler's Instant Snow to learn about the conservation of mass. Start by accurately weighing 1 blue scoop of the snow polymer (about 3 grams). Perform the experiment described above by adding 2 ounces (60 mL) water to the powder to make snow. Accurately weigh the snow. Place the snow in an open container and allow the water to evaporate. This may take several days depending on the humidity. When all of the water has completely evaporated, accurately weigh the remaining powder. If the law of conservation of mass is correct, you should have recovered the same amount of Instant Snow powder you started with at the beginning of the experiment. This proves that the reaction that took place was a physical reaction and not a chemical reaction since the Instant Snow powder never actually changed.
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