Period+1+Group+4

Response to Investigation 6 Essential Question(s)**
 * Period 1 Group 4

=We can determine that water vapor is in the air by an experiment /lab we did in class called the "What's in the Air" lab. We took a cup of ice water, and sealed it with plastic wrap to show the vapor came from the air not the cup. To ensure it came from the air we dyed the water, and then knew there was water vapor because the condensed water was clear. By observing it, we watched and saw water condense on the outside of our cup. The water vapor in the air condensed to the colder surface proving that there's water vapor in the air. The way water condensed on the cup was due to condensation. Condensation happens when a gas turns in to liquid form. The water vapor in the air transfers it's energy to the ice water. The water vapor then turns in to liquid form on the cup because it lost so much heat. Water vapor gets in our air by evaporation. We know this because of the demonstration in class, when we dipped our fingers in water and put a drop of water on both of our hands and we blew on one of our hands to demonstrate the wind. Because our hand was a warmer surface, particles of the water’s molecular motion increased due to conduction, meaning more heat. Because of the conduction that occured the water evaporated back into the air. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air and is measured in percent. I know this from investigation 1 when we had the hygrometer that measured humidity. It was in percent the measurement when we went outside to measure weather factors with tools. Dew point is the temperature at which air becomes saturated. It is measured in degrees Celsius. I know this because of our Dragon’s Breath article that explains about relative humidity, dew point, etc. In the article it says when you exhale vapor from your mouth, and the air around it is much colder you will get Dragon's Breath. When the vapor from your mouth is released it instantly hits dew point and appears as a fog. It does that because there is extra vapor thats being released in the form of a fog. This fog then goes away when the cold air forms around it causing the fog to lose it's energy. The relative humidity would then be one-hundred percent which is also saturated. Relative humidity is defined as the comparison between the amount of water vapor in the air to the amount it needs to saturate at a given temperature. Clouds can be formed by a long process that goes on. The sun evaporates water on it's surface, and it turns into rising water vapor. As the vapor rises in elevation the air pressure is lower making the temperature lower. If the temperature drops enough to saturate and hit dew point it could then form a cloud. The saturated vapor will now condense on to the mini dust particles in the air called condensation nuclei. Condensation nuclei is any kind of dirt or dust in the air that is small that the vapor can condense on. Many condensation nuclei form together to then form a larger cloud. Dew is formed in a similar war. Water vapor condenses to a colder surface such as grass. This happens when the air hits saturation and it is then released from the air as the liquid substince that forms on the colder surface. I know this because of our bottle demonstration where we saw it when you added ice.=
 * How can we determine that water vapor is in the air and how does it get there? What is humidity and what is dew point and how are each measured? How do clouds and dew form?**