Instant Snow

Sodium Polyacrylate (SPA) is a type of adsorbent polymer. This polymer can absorb 100 times its original mass, so it is classed as a super-absorbing polymer.

So how come, when water is added, it turns into something like snow?

This is because when SPA is mixed with water, the sodium that is ionically bonded in the compound tends to spread evenly throughout the polymer and the water, so that some of the sodium atoms move from the polymer into the water. As the sodium moves into the water, some of the negative ions on the polymer bind water molecules.

To keep the sodium concentration in the water and the polymer stable, the water bound to the polymer swells, and eventually artificial snow is formed.