Published on Dec. 25, 2024, 6:36 PM
Have you ever stepped outside during or after a snowfall and noticed what feels like the world around you coming to a standstill?
While many Canadians dread seeing snow fall from the sky, there is a hidden beauty in it that not everyone may have noticed: silence.
And no, it’s not because everyone is inside crying over having to shovel their driveways again; it’s because of science!
SEE ALSO: Not everyone is a ‘snowbird’: How birds overwinter in Canada
Snow is an excellent insulator for not just heat, but also sound due to its porous structure. The pockets of air between ice crystals are able to absorb sound, creating a dampening effect. Snow falling from the sky will essentially absorb and block sounds from reaching you.
This effect only occurs when the snow is fluffy, however. Once snow is packed down, there are no longer any air pockets to absorb sound.
Much like how the white snow can scatter light, making it appear brighter outdoors than it really is, the snow can also effectively scatter high-frequency sounds. Therefore, instead of the sound reaching you directly, it is scattered into different directions, making you hear less of it.
The snow’s silent effect may be more noticeable at nighttime when there are fewer people and less traffic outside, making the world feel as if it were at a complete standstill.
WATCH: The sounds of snow: Listen to the difference between -5C and -15C
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