In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of minute liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may compose the droplets and crystals. On Earth, clouds are formed as a result of saturation of the air when it is cooled to its dew point, or when it gains sufficient moisture (usually in the form of water vapor) from an adjacent source to raise the dew point to the ambient temperature.
They are seen in the Earth's homosphere, which includes the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere. Nephology is the science of clouds, which is undertaken in the cloud physics branch of meteorology. There are two methods of naming clouds in their respective layers of the homosphere, Latin and common.
Genus types in the troposphere, the atmospheric layer closest to Earth's surface, have Latin names due to the universal adoption of Luke Howard's nomenclature that was formally proposed in 1802. It became the basis of a modern international system that divides clouds into five physical forms which can be further divided or classified into altitude levels to derive ten basic genera. The main representative cloud types for each of these forms are stratus, cirrus, stratocumulus, cumulus, and cumulonimbus. Low-level clouds do not have any altitude-related prefixes. However mid-level stratiform and stratocumuliform types are given the prefix alto- while high-level variants of these same two forms carry the prefix cirro-. Genus types with sufficient vertical extent to occupy more than one level do not carry any altitude related prefixes. They are classified formally as low- or mid-level depending on the altitude at which each initially forms, and are also more informally characterized as multi-level or vertical. Most of the ten genera derived by this method of classification can be subdivided into species and further subdivided into varieties. Very low stratiform clouds that extend down to the Earth's surface are given the common names fog and mist, but have no Latin names.
In the stratosphere and mesosphere, clouds have common names for their main types. They may have the appearance of stratiform veils or sheets, cirriform wisps, or stratocumuliform bands or ripples. They are seen infrequently, mostly in the polar regions of Earth. Clouds have been observed in the atmospheres of other planets and moons in the Solar System and beyond. However, due to their different temperature characteristics, they are often composed of other substances such as methane, ammonia, and sulfuric acid, as well as water.
Tropospheric clouds can have a direct effect on climate change on Earth. They may reflect incoming rays from the sun which can contribute to a cooling effect where and when these clouds occur, or trap longer wave radiation that reflects back up from the Earth's surface which can cause a warming effect. The altitude, form, and thickness of the clouds are the main factors that affect the local heating or cooling of Earth and the atmosphere. Clouds that form above the troposphere are too scarce and too thin to have any influence on climate change. Clouds are the main uncertainty in climate sensitivity.
I am interested in knowing if the inside radius of the inner most part of the electron cloud is a constant versus Z. For example is it always the Bohr radius, or does this inner radius change as a function of Z? What is the experimental evidence?
Homework Statement
An interstellar cloud, made up of an ideal gas, collapses with its radius decreasing as $$R = 10^{13} \left(\frac{-t}{216}\right)^{2/3} \text{m}$$ with ##t## measured in years. The time ##t## is taken to be zero at zero radius so that ##t## is always negative.
The cloud...
Hi, I was wondering if I would, or would not, be able to predict the cloud cover for a night using a minimum of simple instruments during the day. If so, how and what instruments? Obviously I could just look at a satellite image or something, but I was wondering how I could do it without...
This image was posted on another forum , maybe someone here may be able to shed some light on the origin of the grinning-panda ...
The the cloud chamber does not have an applied magnetic field.
The radioactive source is Americium 241 [ from smoke detector ? ].
The duration of the camera...
Homework Statement
(see attachment 1)
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
(see attachment 2)
As the gas is ideal and there is no gravity, the pressure is same throughout the cloud. In the thin sphere shown, the mass of the gas is ##dm=dV \cdot \rho(r)##. Let ##\mu## be...
Atomic Hydrogen gas cloud to Star!
what would be different about stars and their formation if interstellar medium only has atomic gas and nothing else?
how would it affect stellar interior and energy production?
My guess is that since atomic hydrogen is less massive than molecular...
Hello!
I've been doing a lot of research on cloud chambers recently, and I've
come up with a quite a few questions on the behavior of certain types
of ionizing radiation:
1) For a start, I assume that gamma-rays and X-rays will induce Compton
scattering inside the cloud chamber...
I was thinking of making a cloud chamber and have looked at several videos on them. I noticed several different types of trails and was wondering if anyone can identify which particles they belong to i.e. alpha, beta, muon. I'm am particularly interested in Muons and I won't be using any...
Homework Statement
A cloud consists of 8 solar masses of hydrogen gas (H2). Its temperature is 20 K and its radius is 0.6 light years. Will it collapse?
Homework Equations
Mj=3kTR/2Gm
3/2kT<GMm/R
The Attempt at a Solution
m=2 x 1.67 x 10^-27
G=6.67 x 10^-11
k=1.38 x 10^-23
T=20...
Homework Statement
A cloud consists of 8 solar masses of hydrogen gas (H2). Its temperature is 20 K and its radius is 0.6 light years. Will it collapse?
Homework Equations
jeans mass
[b]3. The Attempt at a Solution [/b
I've tried to use jeans mass to solve this however I am finding...
Bust Clouds in Africa for just $595...
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Explanation here..
http://www.orgoniseafrica.com/orgonite-cloud-buster-28mm-resin-metal-artwork.html
There are even reviews by customers...
I recently observed a liquid pooling at the bottom of my cloud chamber. It was purple in color and rather odd. It was certainly flammable, which leads me to believe that it was a result of solventing between the supersaturated alcohol and the canned air used for my chamber...
Imagine a big superfluid cloud the size of the Moon, at the same distance of the Moon in front of the Sun. A total eclipse of 7 minutes.
What would happen with the light coming from the sun during these 7 minutes?
Would we see a "night sun"?
Another question.
"Estimates of the photon...
I was working on my cloud chamber today, and I ran into two problems:
A) It's not working :) To be more specific, I used compressed air to get the bottom extremely cold. The structure itself is a small plastic throw away cup, with a sponge with 91% alcohol stuck to the top. The bottom (the open...
Do cloud chambers have any practical use in daily life? I mean, nowadays you can pretty much go and buy a Geiger counter anywhere, so are cloud chambers useful as anything more than a physics experiment these days?
Hello All!
Does anyone have a good design for a Cloud Chamber using Peltier Coolers? I'm wanting to build a chamber that will be able to pick up cosmic rays/background radiation, that will be a bit more professional than a Tupperware container sitting on dry ice. Does anyone have a good design...
Could a universal "Oort cloud" structure cause expansive acceleration?
Could there be a giant sphere of invisible non-reactive matter (neutrinos?), left over from the big bang, so massive that it's gravity is pulling galaxies outward?
I know the Oort cloud doesn't pull planets outward, but...
I have a conceptual problem.
Homework Statement
I was given a charge distribution for an electron cloud of a hydrogen atom in the ground state - ignoring the nucleus.
Homework Equations
charge density: ρ=charge of electron/(pi*Bohr radius^3)*exp(-2r/Bohr radius)
The Attempt at a...
Admittedly, this is a rather strange request. I am an author researching my first fantasy novel, and I'm trying to create at least some degree of verisimilitude for regular physics in a world that has powerful magic. One plot point is that a city has created a superweapon in the form of a...
Sometimes, but not always, the wind direction (as given by weather.com for my location) is exactly the opposite of the cloud movement. For example: the wind may be given as NW but the storm clouds are coming out of the SE. Almost always the wind direction given by weather.com is corroborated...
I'm currently preparing for a prelim and just wondering if my solution to this problem is correct. I did a plot of v(t) and it looked reasonable. You can find the question and solution both at http://oi50.tinypic.com/2e3v4e8.jpg.
The Problem states:
A spacecraft of mass m_0 and...
Hello all,
I built an expansion cloud chamber and noted that an electrostatic field was needed to see the ionizing radiation. I know this is needed to prevent recombination of the ions and their free electrons. However, I built a diffusion cloud chamber a while ago that called for no electric...
Hello all,
I just finished building an expansion cloud chamber this weekend and have started experimenting with it. Everything looks solid (vacuum, seal etc) but I'm curious about the role my electrostatic field, generated from a bug zapper and a circuit, plays in visualizing the ionizing...
Homework Statement
A cloud of electrons are drifting from a negative plate to a positive plate after being liberated by a laser pulse, (separated by a distance z = 10cm with an original potential difference of 15V) at an instant in time the centre of the cloud has traveled 25mm from the...
Homework Statement
The H-alpha line corresponds to a transition between the 2nd and 1st excited states of hydrogen, and has a wavelength of 656.3nm. The ratio of the number of atoms in these two states in an interstellar cloud of atomic hydrogen is 2x10^-6. Find the temperature of the...
Homework Statement
A raindrop is falling through a cloud, collecting water as it falls. If the raindrop has mass
m and velocity v, show that
mg = vdm/dt +mdv/dt.
Assume that the drop remains spherical and that the rate of accretion is proportional to the
cross-sectional area of the drop...
I was out walking my dogs at 3:00 a.m. (that i might let them off the leash to be dogs for awhile)
Over my head was a strange red cloud, circular and occupying about 2/3rds of the sky overhead, white faint whisps around its perimeter, as i got farther from the light pollution of town the...
Well this is my first thread so I figured I'd start off on the right foot in the crazy forum.
In all seriousness I would like to attempt to explain some experiences I've had that I have been unable to find an explanation for. I will provide as much detail as I can recall to try an aid anyone...
Something a recent obsession has taken me into, I'm attempting to build a cloud chamber, for fun and to observe some particles in action. As a 9th grader, I'm somewhat limited in supplies. Thus, I'm wondering, if I built a cloud chamber, would it be better to use dry ice, or use a peltier cooler...
Caught this on Youtube. At first I thought it was a camera aberration, such as a drop of water on the lens. But the effect is independent of camera movement.
Anyone know what's going on here? Is this effect something between camera and cloud, or is it really something up at the cloud level? If...
In writing a science fiction novel, I set it against a backdrop of the Oort cloud and, as part of the plot, I needed to speculate on its origins. Recognising my limitations, I would like some expert feedback on my ideas.
The first idea I use in my book is that Centaury A & B both developed...
Why can't I have a neutral particle come into a cloud chamber and leave a track? I was reading about cloud chambers and it says when the charged particle comes in it ionizes the vapor in the chamber. But why couldn't a neutron come in and ionize the particles in the chamber with its kinetic...
1. An unsaturated parcel of air is entrained into a cloud near the region of the cloud top. the updraft velocity U, the ambient lapse rate in ther cloud γ, the entrainment rate E, and the mixing ratio of the condensed water μcan be considered constants along the trajectory of the parcel...
Homework Statement
1. Consider a cloud that consists entirely of molecular hydrogen. The temperature is a uniform 15 K and the number density of particles is 5x109 m-3. Assuming a 100% efficient collapse, subsequent star birth and normal evolution, what type of degenerate remnant will result...
How far away is the Oort comet cloud? 1000 AU or 10,000 AU? c=10^10 cm/sec. for 10^8 sec/yr., gives 10^18 cm/lyr. Approximately then, is 1000 AU ~ .01 lyr? And 10,000 AU ~ .1 lyr? Would this be large enough to contain a multi-stellar system, since stars form in multiple? Hence a common Oort...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qyhLAsVxlU
I have been considering a concept that is beyond my technical qualifications. I want to start development of a software project that is based upon some convergent concepts, and I am requesting collaboration in writing a scientific paper on the...
When I've heard and read about the electron "cloud", orbitals where constantly shifting electrons move at breakneck speeds and we cannot model with certainty but only with probabilities of where electrons are likely to be found, I can't help thinking of a wave. It seems to me that it almost...
http://www.physicspost.com/articles.php?articleId=245"
I'm really hesitant about jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon. There's something about it that makes me uneasy. Am I being a curmudgeon for wanting to have complete control of my data?
FYI: We back up our data twice each day onto...
If laser energy travels through a non-homogeneous cloud, does the velocity changes with the cloud density as well or only due to the different than air index of refraction?
Homework Statement
The electron charge density of a hydrogen atom in its ground state is given by:
p(r) = -e/ pi a^3 exp(-2r/a) where a is the Bohr radius
Show the E field due to the cloud is given by:
E(r) = e/4pi episllon0 ( (exp(-2r/a) -1)/r^2 + 2exp(-2r/a)/ar +...
Molecular Cloud "Clumping" Question
I have been told that mysterious 'density waves' hit molecular clouds and that these are what cause these large gas and dust fields to condense into stars and from there planets.
What I don't understand is why don't we assume that the clouds own gravity...
I've got a question that I am stumped on right now
Show that if the Galactic angular velocity \Omega
of an interstellar cloud is > sqrt(4piG\rho/3), the cloud can not collapse in the radial direction. Estimate \Omega and compare it to the rotation rate of the Galaxy.
EDIT: The title of thread is misleading. Instead it should say: "Aquarium cloud chamber - realistic?"
Hello,
I am currently constructing a cloud chamber which is going to be using a w% > 90 % solution of isopropyl alcohol as the condensation chemical. I am using a typical home aquarium with...
I've built a simple cloud chamber using a peltier cooling element and I'm able to see some tracks which is really exciting. But now I've seen in many places that you can apply a high voltage between the floor and a ring at the top of the chamber to further improve sensitivity, and also to force...
problem:
The radiation from an old evolved star of radius 10^6km is obsorbed by a spherical dust and gas cloud, ejected previously by the star, of radius 4*10^8km. If all the radiation from the star is re-emitted by the cloud, which is observed to have a temperature of 500K, what is the...