Why do clouds clump together like they do?

1 Answer

Answer :

answer:Actually, clouds aren’t evaporated water; they’re water that has condensed from the atmosphere’s water vapor and is held in suspension as an aerosol. They require certain conditions to form. Since the amount of water that air can hold in gaseous form varies with its temperature, there will be a certain temperature (the “dew point”) at which the water can no longer stay vaporized, and tiny drops of liquid water will condense out. You now have a cloud. The temperatures in the atmosphere are not uniform. The colder zones will be where clouds form. Once the condensation process begins in a given cool spot, the fog that forms further shields the interior of the nascent cloud from radiant heat, so that the inside of the cloud becomes cooler still. In other words, the clouds are born out of subtle temperature differences, but their formation continues to exaggerate those differences. In this way, the clouds become increasingly more defined as the process continues.

Related questions

Description : Why are some umbrellas sold with net-like covers?

Last Answer : Can you describe what the net-like cover is like or provide a picture?

Description : Do you like rain?

Last Answer : Yes. Do you?

Description : Doesn't the rain smell kind of like forgiveness?

Last Answer : Wet asphalt smells forgiving? Huh. Welcome to ask-public. :)

Description : Why do we scurry through rain as though getting wet is going to hurt us or something?

Last Answer : No one wants to sit with wet clothes or hair for the rest of the day. And it makes my naturally curly hair stick straight. (Ok, I lie. My hair is stick straight.)

Description : Does the water table affect your water pressure?

Last Answer : Not at all.

Description : I accidentally left my portable scanner out in the rain. Is is saveable?

Last Answer : I have had it under a heat lamp for about a week. Will it ever dry out?

Description : Have you ever gone out naked in the rain?

Last Answer : Do you mean nekkid? As opposed to having a neck?

Description : I just lost my umbrella... anyone know a cool one to get?

Last Answer : I can't really help you but I love that losing your umbrella left a hole in your life and that all you want is another badass umbrella to replace it. I would get a big one, well not too big ... of the Sidewalk. People seemed to find it intimidating and stepped aside in my wake. I loved that. :)

Description : How come after it rains some concrete walkways are wet while others are dry?

Last Answer : That would be my bet. I see it too.

Description : Is 80 degrees ok for going to a water park? Too cold too hot?

Last Answer : too cold

Description : How To Make A Rain Stick

Last Answer : Enchanted by the sound of rain, some people sit by their windows during a rain shower as they think about their current worries and concerns. The sound of rain is thought of as ... just proves that behind every great musical instrument is a simple instrument that silently highlights symphonies.

Description : How to Drive in Heavy Rain

Last Answer : How to Drive in Heavy Rain It pays to be cautious, especially when driving in heavy rains. Accidents are aplenty when Mother Nature ravages the roads with heavy downpours so you should take extra precautions ... necessary. If you can, just stay home and enjoy some good old coffee and french toast!

Description : Why don't stars clump together?

Last Answer : Star systems are too far away from each other to be significantly affected by each other’s gravity.

Description : bugs on my burning bushes..small black that clump together

Last Answer : Need Answer

Description : what vegtable has little black round fruit. About the color or currents and a little larger. They grow in a clump?

Last Answer : Need Answer

Description : Why does my cinnamon clump up in my coffee?

Last Answer : The size of the particles will not let the water between them.

Description : How Do I De-Clump My Nail Polish?

Last Answer : Just put a tiny drop of polish remover in it and shake it real well. You may have to do it a couple times. It works for me. It should help.

Description : Are the clump of red berries found on red sumac poisonous?

Last Answer : i have heard that if they point up, they are ok, and if they point down, they are not. this is not backed by any scientific evidence whatsoever.

Description : Is there a brand of natural peanut butter that does not turn into a huge clump when refrigerated?

Last Answer : dont refrigerate it

Description : leaves turn yellow small clump of white at base of stem of leaf

Last Answer : Need Answer

Description : How close should a river birch clump be planted to you house?

Last Answer : 50 ft away from structures.

Description : A hybrid cloud combines multiple clouds where those clouds retain their unique identities but are bound together as a unit. a) Public b) Private c) Community d) Hybrid

Last Answer : Hybrid

Description : Why do clouds behave the way they do?

Last Answer : answer:Meteorology here, here, here and many other online tutorials. Clouds have the same composition as fog: tiny water droplets in air that’s super-saturated with water vapor. When temperature rises or humidity falls, H2O goes from liquid into gas phase and the cloud “disappears.”

Description : Clouds are just water vapor, so why do they move? -Geography

Last Answer : Clouds are not water vapor. Water vapor is the gas state of H2O and is invisible. The air around you on a humid summer day is chock full of water vapor, but you don't see any of ... drops as clear. Returning back the original question, clouds can move because wind can blow water droplets around.

Description : When drop of water in clouds become heavy enough they fall to eart as?

Last Answer : Need answer

Description : On average, how do low clouds affect the surface temperature (compared to a clear sky)? (a) Low clouds warm the surface by increasing the greenhouse effect (b) Low clouds cool the surface by ... surface by increasing the albedo (d) It depends on whether they are comprised of ice or liquid water

Last Answer : (c) Low clouds cool the surface by increasing the albedo

Description : On average, how do high clouds affect the surface temperature (compared to a clear sky)? (a) High clouds warm the surface by increasing the greenhouse effect (b) High clouds cool the surface ... surface by increasing the albedo (d) It depends on whether they are comprised of ice or liquid water

Last Answer : High clouds warm the surface by increasing the greenhouse effect

Description : Why does it seem like clouds never lose their shape in the sky?

Last Answer : answer:Depends on the type of clouds and type of day and where you are. I was in a boat off the shore of Vernazza, Italy, on a bright warm day. Looking north towards a cape. I could see ... as they moved south from me. I was amazed at it happening continually while I watched for half an hour.

Description : Do you like clouds/cloudy skies as much as I do? Care to share your (preferably self shot) picture of them?

Last Answer : Wow.. Those are beautiful shots!

Description : Do you like looking at the clouds?

Last Answer : I hate the clouds… He’d tell me everything would be alright, and that he loved me, and I’d look up. Because we used to go outside and just lay there for hours, watching the clouds go by… Like nothing bad will happen. Just me and him. That’s all that mattered. Now it’s just me.

Description : It's easy to see me,Not easy to atop me,Clouds hang around me,And people like to slide down me.What am I? -Riddles

Last Answer : Mountain

Description : The flat like structures formed due to condensation of gaseous clouds after big-bong where called as :

Last Answer : The flat like structures formed due to condensation of gaseous clouds after big-bong where called as : A. Planets B. Sun C. Nebula D. Galaxy

Description : Storm clouds were looking like a) Huge mountains b) Steep mountains c) Brown mountains d) Black mountains

Last Answer : d) Black mountains

Description : Does anyone know the meaning of Privy Counsel in the title of the Book "The Clouds of Unknowing"?

Last Answer : answer:Please check the spelling- is it Counsel or Council? A “Privy Council” is a private advisory group, usually to a monarch. A Privy Counsel would be a private adviser to oneself. Sounds like the context is that the book is meant as a private adviser or guide to an individual.

Description : What kind of clouds are these? [Pics inside.]?

Last Answer : answer:1. Nimbostratus 2. Mamma (mammatus) That’s my guess from peeking at this website.

Description : How often have you seen charcoal colored clouds right next to sunny skies?

Last Answer : Very often. When thunderstorms are here that is often the case.

Description : If someone urinates in a lake in Africa can clouds bring pee rain to The United States?

Last Answer : Well, that is ridiculous, because the urine would be so diluted in the lake that it would not still be identifiable.

Description : Does lightning originate from the clouds to earth or earth to the clouds?

Last Answer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XwFF5idD_0

Description : What if our planet had ten times it's current diameter, and was always darkened by low hanging clouds and perpetually gritty skies?

Last Answer : I’d move!

Description : How can a clouds weight be determined?

Last Answer : I don't think there's a logical way to weigh a gas. Although, since a cloud can hold rain, a liquid, I would think you can. But, since it's dispersed throughout the cloud it would be hard to ... a clouds weight based on certain factors, but I'm not smart enough to even begin that type of research.

Description : What kind of clouds were there today?

Last Answer : answer:Blue skies here. Where do you live? It is a big planet.

Description : How does the high/low temperatures, the barometric pressure, and the relative humidity influence what kinds of clouds are out?

Last Answer : answer:Yikes. The formation of clouds is an application of the First Law of Thermodynamics. According to the First Law, a change in the internal energy of a system can be due to the ... for air under these conditions is the moist adiabatic lapse rate and is approximately -5oC per kilometer.

Description : Why are clouds sometimes flat on the bottom?

Last Answer : Different updrafts

Description : What kind of shorts do clouds wear? -Riddles

Last Answer : Thunderwear.

Description : I wear a huge dark cloak, not unlike the one of a wizard, I am the opposite of warm, I don't walk-I float, I prefer to be sad, not happy. I appear in clouds, not in the sky, I can only ... path. I am a foul creature, amongst the foulest, you might call me a light extinguisher. What am I? -Riddles

Last Answer : A dementor from Harry Potter.

Description : My dress is tranquil when I tread the earth, or dwell at home, or drift on the water. Sometimes my wings and this wide sky lift me over the dwellings of men, and then strong clouds carry me over ... , Illustriously sing when I am not near the earth and stream, a sailing spirit.What am I? -Riddles

Last Answer : A swan.

Description : I am the black child of a white father, a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven. I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me, even though there is no cause for grief, and at once on my birth I am dissolved into air.Who am I? -Riddles

Last Answer : I am Smoke.

Description : My thunder comes before the lightning; My lightning comes before the clouds; My rain dries all the land it touches. What am I? -Riddles

Last Answer : A volcano.

Description : First, think of the color of clouds. Next think of the color of snow. Last, think of the color of the moon. Now, what do cows drink? -Riddles

Last Answer : Water. If the teaser worked, you guessed milk.

Description : How can there be clouds in winter when it is too cold for water to stay a vapor? -Geography

Last Answer : First of all, clouds are never made out of water vapour. Water vapor is invisible because its molecules are too far apart to optically scatter light. Whenever you see steam, mist, fog, or clouds, ... there are still often layers of atmosphere higher up that are warm enough for water to stay liquid.