Period+2+Group+2

Response to Investigation 6 Essential Question(s)**
 * Period 2 Group 2

We can determine that water vapor is in the air by condensation. We learned this in the condensation lab using the ice water and cup. In this lab we discovered, that when the air becomes cooler from giving off its heat to a cooler surface, it can hold less water vapor.As the temperature drops, the air will soon become saturated and reach dew point. When this happens the water vapor turns back into liquid water and condenses onto the cooler surface. For example, in this lab, when we added ice to the cup, it became cooler than the surrounding air. Then the air began to transfer its energy to the cup. The temperature of the air then dropped, became saturated, and reached dew point. Then condensation occured, and the cup was left with liquid water on the outside. Water vapor gets into the air through evaporation. We learned this in the wet and dry bulb thermometer lab. In this lab we covered two thermometers with cloth, one was wet and one was dry. We waved the thermometers in the air and the wet bulb = temperature decreased. This lab helped us understand how heat energy works when waves in the air. On a cold surface the air will use is ts heat energy to heat the surface up. Clouds form from condensation occuring on condensation nuclei and dew forms from condensation occuring on the ground. We learned this in the cloud in a bottle investigation and the Observing Cloud article. We learned that clouds form when the amount of humidity in the air rises, causing the air to become saturated and reach dew point. Now condensation occurs. The water vapor in the air turns to liquid and condenses onto the condensation nuclei. Lastly, billions of nuclei come together to form a cloud. Dew forms the same why, except the water vapor condenses onto the ground and not condensation nuclei. =
 * 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?**