Snowflake in the same micro-environment does not guarantee that each arm grow the same; indeed, for some crystal forms it does not because the underlying crystal growth mechanism also affects how fast each surface region of a crystal grows. Empirical studies suggest less than 0.1% of snowflakes exhibit the ideal six-fold symmetric shape. Very occasionally twelve branched snowflakes are observed; they maintain the six-fold symmetry. Snowflakes form in a wide variety of intricate shapes, leading to the notion that "no two are alike". Although nearly-identical snowflakes have been made in laboratory, they are very unlikely to be found in nature. Initial
Symmetrical components This article discusses voltage, however, the same considerations also apply to current. In a perfectly balanced three-phase power system, the voltage phasor components have equal magnitudes but are 120 degrees apart. In an unbalanced system, the magnitudes and phases of the voltage phasor components are different. Decomposing the voltage phasor components into a set of symmetrical components helps analyze the system as well as visualize any imbalances. If the three voltage components are expressed as phasors (which are complex numbers), a complex vector can be formed in which the three phase components are the components of the vector. A vector