MinuteEarth

Rain's Dirty Little Secret

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: 

  • Condensation: the process of water molecules glomming together into visible droplets
  • Condensation nuclei: tiny solid particles that water vapor condenses onto (also called aerosols)
  • Homogeneous condensation: condensation without any kind of condensation nuclei
  • Dew point: the temperature below which water vapor starts to condense into droplets
  • Heterogeneous condensation: condensation that happens with the help of condensation nuclei
  • Critical Embryo: a cluster of water molecules big enough to easily gain more molecules
  • Cloud chamber: a cool thing to check out if you want to build a particle detector at home (it involves pumping a bunch of water vapor into pure air; when a particle passes through, it leaves a streak of ionized water molecules that, in super-saturated air, can act as condensation nuclei!)


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