How heavy are clouds?
Short answer is VERY heavy. To understand, lets think about what clouds are made of; either water droplets or ice crystals. Both liquid water and solid ice have a much higher density than air. OK, so why do they stay up?
For the same reason that dust, pollen, and the carbon particles from smoke stay up. They are very small. That does not make them less dense. (Small rocks don't float, in spite of what Monty Python says.) It does mean they have very little mass, so they are easily moved by air currents and even the brownian motion of atoms in the air around them.
OK, so how heavy? Think about what comes out of a cloud? Rain. Sometimes a LOT of rain. Imagine that a cloud drops one inch of rain on a one square mile area. That is 2,291,520 cubic feet of water. At 62.4 pounds per cubic foot, that is 142,990,848 pounds of water that came from the cloud, and there is still a lot of cloud left after the rain.
If clouds are that heavy, what would happen if one fell on you? Fog.
Clouds weigh tons!
Clouds are formed of tiny droplet of water or tiny ice crystals. They are so tiny that their rate of falling through the air is very very small and updrafts easily keep them aloft. But the volume of a typical cloud is huge. If you add up all the weight of all the tiny droplets (or crystals), you get a surprisingly large number. It really does come out to tons. Obviously, it depends on the size of the cloud and the density and size of the water droplets in it.
(by Jonni)
they can't be lighter than air; there must be upthrust acting on them. They must be slightly heavier than air.
no idea
maybe it has to do with how much water is in the clouds like the more water the heavier the cloud? ? but then again clouds are technically water VAPOR so
NO IDEA!!!!
by freya
not at all. because they are as light as a feather. actually they are lighter than a feather because a feather would drop and a cloud isn't.
(by Miyuki)
they are not heavier than a house. they are made out of air.
(from Lani)
not heavy at all because they are just water vapour. they float in the sky so they can't be heavy and there is gravity on them.
they must, logically, be
they must, logically, be lighter than air, I'd think ... since they stay up there!
i think
i think they are pretty light
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What is the answer????
I can't find it.
Cloud weight.
It depends on how large the cloud is and what type of cloud it is, a rain cloud, or just a normal cloud, but the weight of the cloud depends on the size and number of the droplets that the cloud is made of. In short, there is no real way to know the exact weight of a cloud, because the cloud is constantly getting smaller/larger. That is my opinion on the subject.
clouds
as heavy as the amount of water that is in them. Cumulous clouds would weigh more than stratus or nimbo-stratus would.
I think that it depends on
I think that it depends on how much water the cloud contains, and what type of cloud it it.
clouds
they are not heavy at all.They are water vapor.
clouds
they are not heavy at all.They are water vapor.
clouds
The more water that is in them the heavier they will be.
depends
depends on how water vapor is in them
Clouds are actually very
Clouds are actually very heavy since they are filled with water. ES
??????????
well,it depends on what type of cloud it is.rain clouds probably would be heaver than other clouds.[ when they have rain of corse.] [get it?] all clouds are made of little microscopic dust and/or dirt pices and water crystals,so they are not 0 pounds.
p.s. mr.kramp,i love your blog.
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