At Home with the Mad Scientist: K-2 for December 2008

Making a Cloud in a Glass

Remember: Always have an adult help you with any experiment.

Materials

  1. A clear glass or similar see-through container
  2. Warm water
  3. Ice
  4. A metal dish (or other flat object that transfers the cold well)

Procedure

  1. Place the ice into the metal dish. Wait for it to be really cold.
  2. Pour a small amount of warm water into the bottom of the glass.
  3. Place the cold plate on top of the glass.
  4. You should see a "cloud" form near the top of the glass.

What's Going On?

This is the way clouds form in the real world. Warm, moist air like that in your glass, is cooled (cold plate). When the warm, moist air is cooled it condenses into tiny water droplets, which appear as clouds.