Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Condensation on a window during a rain shower. Condensation in building construction is an unwanted phenomenon as it may cause dampness, mold health issues, wood rot, corrosion, weakening of mortar and masonry walls, and energy penalties due to increased heat transfer. To alleviate these issues, the indoor air humidity needs to be lowered, or ...
Clouds consist of microscopic droplets of liquid water (warm clouds), tiny crystals of ice (cold clouds), or both (mixed phase clouds), along with microscopic particles of dust, smoke, or other matter, known as condensation nuclei. [1] Cloud droplets initially form by the condensation of water vapor onto condensation nuclei when the ...
Water vapor normally begins to condense on condensation nuclei such as dust, ice, and salt in order to form clouds. The cloud condensation nuclei concentration will determine the cloud microphysics. [18] An elevated portion of a frontal zone forces broad areas of lift, which form cloud decks such as altostratus or cirrostratus.
A huge concentration of these droplets over a large area in the atmosphere becomes visible as cloud, while condensation near ground level is referred to as fog. Atmospheric circulation moves water vapor around the globe; cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation.
A typical raindrop is about 2 mm in diameter, a typical cloud droplet is on the order of 0.02 mm, and a typical cloud condensation nucleus is on the order of 0.0001 mm or 0.1 μm or greater in diameter. [1] The number of cloud condensation nuclei in the air can be measured at ranges between around 100 to 1000 per cm 3. [1]
Precipitation occurs when evapotranspiration takes place and local air becomes saturated with water vapor, and so can no longer maintain the level of water vapor in gaseous form, which creates clouds. This occurs when less dense moist air cools, usually when an air mass rises through the atmosphere to higher and cooler altitudes.
As the air is cooled to its dew point and becomes saturated, water vapor normally condenses to form cloud drops. This condensation normally occurs on cloud condensation nuclei such as salt or dust particles that are small enough to be held aloft by normal circulation of the air. [14] [15]
Atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat-to-work transformations (and their reverse) that take place in the Earth's atmosphere and manifest as weather or climate. . Atmospheric thermodynamics use the laws of classical thermodynamics, to describe and explain such phenomena as the properties of moist air, the formation of clouds, atmospheric convection, boundary layer meteorology, and ...