Earth Hall · EXH-0015

When does invisible water vapor become a cloud?

Air that rises can cool until tiny liquid droplets appear around particles.

What should you look for?

When did droplets appear?

Lower pressure lets rising air expand, which lowers its temperature and can bring it to saturation.

Invisible vapor condenses on tiny airborne nuclei into visible droplets; the vapor itself is not the white cloud.

The lapse-rate and dew-point calculations are simplified educational approximations.

Change altitude, starting temperature, and humidity. Watch vapor, nuclei, and droplets separately.

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