How to Predict the Weather

How to predict the weather is easy, just observe the chemical process. Your plans to leave the
house or stay at home depend on the results of the weather forecast. If your prediction fails, you
will get soaked, if you are rigth, you will provide an umbrella before it rains.

Nature School – Predicting the weather is easy, just observe the chemical process. Your plans to
leave the house or stay may be determined by the results of your weather forecast.

[Link] – Weather forecast is very important in our life. Your plan for today, is it going out or
staying at home, going out in a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle? Planning, possibly, was
determined by the weather forecast of the Meteorological Agency.

Before making a weather forecast, a meteorologist must fully understand what causes and affects
weather conditions. If he does not understand it then he is just a clairvoyant like the supporters who
predict someone's fate.

Weather is an important part of our lives. Your plans for the day (what you wear, where you go) may
be determined by a meteorologist's weather forecast. Before making such predictions, however, a
meteorologist must have an understanding of what causes and affects weather conditions. In this
project, you will study several weather events and determine the chemical nature of each. Clouds,
for instance, are one of the many wonders of nature, and, in this first experiment, you will discover
the mystery of their formation and disappearance. You will also look at the energy and phase
changes involved in the formation of dew and frost. And the laws that determine how gases behave
will be used to explain some weather conditions.

Learning Objectives

To determine what causes clouds to form and to dissipate (to separate or break up).

Materials

glass soda bottle

water

candle

match

1-foot (30-cm) piece of aquarium tubing

modelling clay

2 or 3 books

desk lamp

masking tape

sheet of black construction paper

Procedure

1. Rinse the inside of the soda bottle with water.

3. Light the candle with the match and allow the candle to burn for 30 seconds.

4. Blow out the candle and hold the smoking wick inside the bottle just long enough for a small puff
of smoke to enter it.

5. Insert about 4 inches (10 cm) of one end of the tubing into the middle of the bottle's mouth.

6. Use modeling clay around the tubing to seal off the mouth of the bottle.

7. Stack the books on a table that is next to a wall.

8. Set the bottle on the stack of books and position the lamp so that it illuminates the bottle from
behind but does not shine directly in your eyes.

9. Tape the black paper to the wall behind the bottle so that it creates a dark background (see Figure
1.1).

10. Blow hard into the end of the tubing.

11. Seal the end of the tubing by bending it and holding it tightly with your fingers.

12. Observe the contents of the bottle.

13. Quickly release the tubing and immediately observe the bottle's contents.

14. Repeat the procedure of blowing into the bottle and releasing the tubing several times.

Results

The contents of the bottle look clear when air is blown into the bottle, but releasing the tubing
causes the inside of the bottle to look cloudy.

Why

Molecules in a liquid constantly move around and bounce into one another. When a liquid molecule
acquires enough energy to break away from the attraction of other molecules in the liquid, it
escapes as vapor into the space above the liquid. This process (liquid becoming vapor) is called
evaporation and occurs faster as the temperature increases. Condensation (vapor becoming liquid)
is the reverse of this process and occurs faster when the temperature decreases. In this experiment,
when air is forced into the bottle, the increase in pressure causes an increase in temperature; thus,
more molecules of invisible water vapor are formed. As the air rushes out, the pressure in side the
bottle decreases, causing the contents of the bottle to cool; thus, the water vapor changes back into
liquid water. These changes occur rapidly. Water droplets are formed as the water molecules
condense and cling to the smoke particles. These droplets are large enough to scatter the light, so
the bottle appears cloudy. The cloud dissipates when the water molecules vaporize. The minute
smoke particles are too small to scatter the light, so the bottle appears clear.

Try New Approaches

1. Are particles in the air necessary for cloud formation? Repeat the experiment, omitting the step of
adding smoke. Science Fair Hint: Use diagrams to compare the result of this experiment with that of
the original experiment.
2. Does the amount of water affect the results? Repeat the experiment twice, first using a dry bottle,
and then using twice as much water.

Design Your Own Experiment

1. Dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled, at constant pressure, in order for
it to be saturated with water. In order for dew (water that condenses on cool surfaces) to
form, water vapor must exist in the air. The amount of water vapor is referred to as
humidity. When the humidity is high, the dew point is also high. Demonstrate how to
measure dew point by filling a drinking glass with ice cubes and covering the ice with water.
Place a thermometer in the ice water and observe the outside of the glass (see Figure 1.2).
Record the temperature at which water is first observed on the outside of the glass. Repeat
this experiment on days with varying humidity. You could display a diagram of the materials
used and the experiment results. Include an illustration showing the energy changes
necessary to make phase changes. These changes can be expressed as follows:

2. Frost is formed when dew, formed at a temperature below 32°F (0°C), changes to ice and
then grows by sublimation. Sublimation is the direct change from vapor to a solid and can be
expressed as follows:

Demonstrate frost formation by filling a shiny metal can half full with ice. Cover the ice with a thin
layer of rock salt (ice cream salt, available at the grocery). The salt lowers the temperature of the ice
water. Add more ice to fill the can and cover the ice with salt again. Pour enough water into the can
to cover the ice and stir. Observe the outside of the can. Frequently, scrape your fingernail over the
outside surface of the can to detect signs of frost formation. You could display photographs of the
can in your project.

Get the Facts

1. Weather systems occur in the lower level of the blanket of gas surrounding the earth, which is
called the atmosphere. To understand more about weather, you must learn more about gases. Use a
chemistry text to find information about the laws that govern the behavior of gases. What are the
relationships between the volume, the temperature, and the pressure of a gas? What is vapor
pressure and how does it affect the relative humidity of air?

2. Frost, dew, rain, hail, sleet, and snow are all formed by increases and decreases in the
temperature of water. But what determines whether the solid phase is frost, sleet, hail, or snow?
Use an atmospheric science text to find out more about the conditions required to form each of
these different water phases.

3. What causes clouds to be white? Why are they more colorful in the mornings and in the evenings
than at midday? The commonly accepted reason for the whiteness of clouds is the equal scattering
of visible light of all wavelengths. Why then does milk look white when in fact it scatters more blue
light? Find out more about colors produced by the scattering of light. What is the Tyndall effect?

4. Frost does not occur under cars, trees, and benches. The reason is not that these objects block
falling frost as an umbrella blocks falling rain. The reason is rather that frost does not fall; it sublimes
from atmospheric water vapor onto subfreezing surfaces. The absence of frost on a surface indicates
that the surface, because of its radiation energy, is too warm for frost to form. All objects emit
radiation. Find out more about heat from radiation. Why is it that only the area directly under the
branches of a tree is affected by its radiant energy? How does color affect the energy of an object?