At clouds are formed by condensation of water vapor in atmosphere and they are a collection of tiny water droplets, or ice crystals, that float in hot air. Of the existing cloud types, the most common are the Cirrus, Cumulus and Stratus.
At clouds like cirrus are classified as high clouds, above 6000 m, are thin, white and have ice crystals. The clouds cumulus develop vertically, are dense and generally have a flat base. This type of cloud indicates good weather. the clouds of type Stratus they are classified as low, are at 2000 m, have a grayish color and can produce drizzle.
weight of a cloud
By observing the clouds in the sky, we can imagine them as something extremely light, but some types of clouds can have a pasta extremely high.
the mass of a a cloud can be determined from the density of the water present in each type. In possession of this density, and estimating the volume of a cloud, it is enough multiply these values to get your mass.
Associated with the National Center for Atmospheric Research of the United States of America (NCAR), researcher Peggy LeMone claims that clouds of the type
cumulus can store more than 500 tons of water. LeMone compared the mass of clouds to the mass of elephants and says that a cloud cumulus equates to approximately 100 elephants.Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
The researcher also determined the possible mass of a drilling multiplying the mass of 1 m3 of water by its estimated volume. The result found indicates an incredible 240 million kilos, which would correspond to 40 million elephants!
The mass of a hurricane can match that of 40 million elephants
Why don't clouds fall over us?
The droplets that usually form a cloud have diameter approximate 20 micrometers (20. 10 – 6 m) and are spread over a large area, floating because of the action of hot air.
When the amount of water present in a a cloud reaches critical values, the call will occur precipitation, as the water droplets start to present a size that allows them to fall and reach the ground. THE precipitation is what we call rain.
By Joab Silas
Graduated in Physics
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
JUNIOR, Joab Silas da Silva. "What is the weight of a cloud?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/qual-peso-uma-nuvem.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
