Period+2+Group+4

Response to Investigation 6 Essential Question(s)**
 * Period 2 Group 4

= = =You can determine that water vapor is in the air by the humidity reading (by a hygrometer). Also if you see condensation, you can tell there is water vapor in the air. We learned this when we did the ice water lab and saw the condensation on the cup. The warmer water vapor gave wanted to give its energy to the colder ice water. The fast moving molecules of the water vapor eventually slowed down, saturated the air and reached dew point. The water vapor formed as a liquid on the outside of the cup.=
 * 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?**

=The way water vapor gets in the atmosphere is evaporation. We found this out by doing an experiment when we had a drop of water on our hands and we blew on it. Evaporation is when the water inside of an object is being heated by an energy source like the sun. The molecular motion speeds up so much for the liquid to transform into a gas as water vapor. We can tell it is in the air because of condensation. We learned about condensation with the ice water experiment. We had a control cup with just room temperature water and a cup of colored ice water. We saw that only the ice water cup started forming condensation. This is because the warmer water vapor wanted to give its molecular motion to the colder material. We dyed the water to prove that the water wasn't leaking from the cup.= = = =Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Humidity is measured as a percentage. We measured it with a dry bulb, wet bulb experiment. We learned this when we read the "Dragon's Breath" article and did Packet #20. To measure the humidity in the air we took a piece of dry muslin and a piece of wet muslin and wrapped them on a thermometer. We swung them in our hands to cause wind. Then, we subtracted the wet bulb temperature from them dry bulb temperature. After that, we used the humidity calculator to gather our information about the humidity in the air by doing the process over again.= = = =Dew point is the temperature when the air is fully saturated. Water vapor changes back into a liquid or condenses on a cooler surface. Dew point is measured as a temperature. We learned this when we did the lab where we transfered the water from cup to cup and stirred the ice cubes in. As soon as we saw condensation we learned that the air has reached dew point. The cooler water was taking molecular motion away from the air causing the air to be more compact. The air became saturated and water formed on the cup.= = = =Clouds form by evaporation then condensation. The sun gives its energy to the water. The molecules speed up so fast that they change from a liquid to a gas and evaporate into the atmosphere. As the water travels up the atmosphere the air pressure and temperature drop. The temperature drops far enough for the air to saturate and reach dew point. The water vapor then condenses on condensation nuclei such as dust and smoke. Millions of condensation nuclei join together to form a cloud. I learned this when I did the cloud in the bottle lab. We sped up the molecular motion by shaking the bottle causing the water to evaporate. Then we added condensation nuclei by putting smoke from a match in the bottle. We made the temperature and molecular motion increase by squeezing the bottle. When we released the pressure the molecular motion slow down far enough to reach dew point and form a cloud in the bottle.= = = =Dew forms when dew point is reached and water condensates onto a cooler surface. I learned this when I did the condensation and dew point lab. I saw that once the air molecules slowed down enough to reach dew point water formed on the side of the cup. That liquid is called condensation.=