HAMILTON, Mich. — Mostly cloudy and partly cloudy are terms we hear often in weather forecasts, but do you know the three ingredients it takes to form those clouds? Bentheim Elementary students learned how to create a cloud.
All you need for this experiment is a 2-liter clear bottle, matches, adult supervision and warm water. You'll want to fill the clear bottle with warm water and place the cap back on. This warm water is starting to evaporate and is adding water vapor to the air inside the bottle. Remember water vapor is the first ingredient we need to make a cloud!
Then try squeezing and releasing the bottle….does anything happen yet? No. The squeeze represents the warming that occurs in the atmosphere and the release represents the cooling in the atmosphere
Now with adult supervision and performing every part of this step fast!! Take the cap off the bottle then light a match close to the bottle top, drop the match in the bottle and quickly put the cap back on. The smoke from the match is acting like the dust, smoke and other particles found in the atmosphere that the invisible gaseous water vapor can attach to. It will start to condense and form small cloud droplets.
Once again slowly squeeze the bottle pretty hard and release it; what happens?? A cloud appears! When you release the bottle you get the cloud and it disappears when you squeeze it. This represents the chance in pressure as clouds form when there is a drop in air pressure.