How do clouds form? смотреть онлайн

What are clouds made of? How do clouds form? How do they stay afloat? How much does a cloud weigh?

For such a common sight in our everyday lives, there are definitely a lot of interesting questions you could ask of clouds.

This video goes about tackling them and some of the answers might surprise you.

You can discover more about some of the rarer cloud types in our '7 Rare cloud types' Amazing Weather video here: https://youtu.be/fKW5w0YWoOo

You can also find out more about clouds and how to spot them on our website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/clouds/cloud-spotting-guide

Although clouds might look like they are made of gas, they are actually a large mass of tiny drops of liquid water or ice crystals Clouds are usually formed when air rises and the water vapour within it cools. When cooled, the water vapour collides with and sticks to tiny particles floating in the air - these are known as condensation nuclei, which include aerosols such as salt and dust. As the vapour rises and cools, these nuclei provide the surface for the vapour to condense onto. When enough vapour condenses around the nuclei, a cloud droplet is formed. These droplets are so small that a cubic metre of air contains 100 million of them. However, combined to make a cumulus cloud, they can weigh as much as 500 tonnes. That’s roughly 100 elephants. Thankfully the individual water droplets, unlike elephants, are so tiny and spread out that they stay afloat.

Sometimes these water droplets combine to become larger drops or crystals. And if they become large enough and too heavy, they will gradually fall from the sky as - you guessed it - precipitation

Music: Back in Summer by Nicolai Heidlas

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