GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — We have all seen fog give a very eerie look and feel to many days. How does fog form and what is it exactly?
For this experiment, you need the following supplies:
- Glass jar
- Water
- Ice cubes
- Matches
- Plastic sandwich bag
Step 1: Fill up jar completely with hot water for about a minute
Step 2: Pour out almost all the water, but leave an inch or so in the jar
Step 3: Light the match and hold it over the jar for a few seconds before dropping it in the jar
Step 4: Very quickly place the few ice cubes in the plastic bag over the jar
Step 5: Watch what happens!
We just created fog! The cold air from the ice cubes collides with the warm, moist air in the jar causing the water to condense and form the fog! The vapor started to form because the warm water and the match heated the air inside the jar. The warm, moist air rose up to the top of the jar colliding with the cold air just below the ice cubes. When the warm air meets the cold air they create a cloud of water droplets.
Fog is actually a cloud! Clouds can form at many different altitudes as high as 12 miles above sea level or as low as the ground. So fog happens when the air right at the surface level cools enough to turn into water vapor.