If we wanted to make a cloud entirely from scratch, we’d
first need a fleet of jumbo jets or several hundred
hot-air balloons to haul hundreds of tons of water up to
the sky.And then, somehow, we’d need to disperse
all that liquid into a mist of droplets small enough to float.
In short, it wouldn’t be easy.And yet, our atmosphere
manages to pump out one cloud after another all over the
world at altitudes of up to 20 kilometers above
sea level, using water and fuel carried all the way from Earth’s surface.
source:https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/545076361123256785/?lp=true
Cumulus clouds, for example get their start when solar
energy evaporates water from oceans, plants and soil
by breaking the bonds that hold water molecules together.
As the patch of air above collects moisture and heat cooler,
heavier air sinks around it pinching it off and pushing it
aloft like an invisible hot-air balloon.Surprisingly, this
balloon’s cargo doesn’t weigh it down – in fact, the more
water vapor it collects before lift-off, the lighter it gets.
source:http://eschooltoday.com/clouds/how-do-clouds-form.html
As weird as that sounds, it’s because water vapor is a gas
just like the nitrogen and oxygen that make up most of the
atmosphere.Basic physics dictates that a given volume
of gas has the same number of molecules regardless of what
those molecules are.And water is made of H plus H plus O, which
is lighter than both two Ns and two Os.So warm, humid air
is even more buoyant than warm, dry air.As the invisible
balloon goes up, the falling pressure outside allows it to
keep ballooning,which spreads out its internal heat and
lowers its temperature.Eventually, the air at the top cools
enough for the water vapor there to condense into droplets,
which look from afar like a thin wisp of cloud.And as the rest of
the balloon rises, water vapor continues to cool and condense
at the same altitude, creating a flat-bottomed cloud
that appears to grow upward out of nothing.
source:http://www.weatherquestions.com/How_do_clouds_form.htm
What’s more, as the condensing water vapor molecules bond
together into liquid droplets, they release the energy they
absorbed from Earth’s surface when they evaporated.This heats
the surrounding pocket of air,giving it lift and sucking more moist
air up behind it , which cools and condenses and releases
heat, which fuels lift and strengthens the updraft.Even in a small
cumulus cloud , the total energy released from condensation
is huge– equivalent to about 270 tons of TNT.And if the supply
of water vapor is much larger,the energy released can produce
stratosphere-high pillars of cloud with violent updrafts, fierce
electrical storms, and grapefruit-sized hailstones.
If you want to see more science posts, keep following up.
REFERENCES:
http://www.cameronballoons.com/products/hot-air-balloons/envelopes/a-type
https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=GXEpAgAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
http://mentalfloss.com/article/49786/how-much-does-cloud-weigh
https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=0MURkyjuoGMC&redir_esc=y
