Table of Contents
When water vapors cool and form clouds?
The air is no longer able to hold all that water vapor. The excess amount changes from a gas into a liquid or solid (ice). The process of water changing from a gas to a liquid is called “condensation,” and when gas changes directly into a solid, it is called “deposition.” These two processes are how clouds form.
What is a water vapor cloud?
Clouds are not water vapor. Water vapor is the gas state of H2O and is invisible. Clouds are collections of liquid water droplets or ice that are small enough to float. When the water vapor in the air gets cold enough, it condenses back into liquid in the forms of droplets.
What is it called when water soaks into the ground?
The process of water soaking into the ground to become groundwater is known as groundwater recharge. The area on the surface where water soaks in is call the recharge area. When a stream flows through an area where water soaks in, some of the water from the stream may seep down to recharge the aquifer below.
What are puffy clouds called?
Cumulus clouds
Cumulus clouds look like fluffy, white cotton balls in the sky. They are beautiful in sunsets, and their varying sizes and shapes can make them fun to observe!
What happens as water vapor cools?
When the water vapor cools enough, the attractions between the molecules bring them together. This causes the water vapor to change state and become tiny drops of liquid water. The process of changing from a gas to a liquid is called condensation.
How does condensation of water vapor form a cloud?
Condensation happens with the help of tiny particles floating around in the air, such as dust, salt crystals from sea spray, bacteria or even ash from volcanoes. Those particles provide surfaces on which water vapor can change into liquid droplets or ice crystals. A large accumulation of such droplets or ice crystals is a cloud.
What happens to water vapor when it cools?
When water vapor cools, it condenses. It is a phase change where water changes from a gas to a liquid. Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. In the atmosphere, moisture condenses to form clouds at higher levels. When it condenses near the surface, fog forms.
Which is the gas that causes clouds to form?
Heat causes some of the liquid water – from places like oceans, rivers and swimming pools – to change into an invisible gas called water vapor. This process is called evaporation and it’s the start of how clouds are formed.
How are water droplets formed in a cloud?
Dust and other particles floating in the air provide surfaces for water vapor to turn into water drops or ice crystals. The tiny drops of water condense on the particles to form cloud droplets. Clouds are made up of a bunch of cloud droplets bundled together with raindrops.