Itf air heats up differently above different surfaces, how does this affect how air behaves? We worked through an opportunity to capture air in a bottle, and submerse it in water of different temperatures to see how the air behaved--the soap on top of the bubble was really insightful!
| If the air molecules gain energy and take up more space as they move faster, the flip side is true, too. Colder air masses with less energy have molecules that are less spread out as they're moving less. So what if we could capture a slightly bigger mass of air, and heat it up to see what it does?!?! |
Really pinpointing where the balloon had more energy in the system vs. less, we officially defined density--how if the mass stayed the same, but if the volume of the molecules got bigger, the density would have to have become less. This is when we saw the balloon rise.
But if the mass stayed the same and the molecules took up less volume, then the density would have increased, and the balloon would have sunk. We also nailed down where the energy was transferring from and where it was going!
But if the mass stayed the same and the molecules took up less volume, then the density would have increased, and the balloon would have sunk. We also nailed down where the energy was transferring from and where it was going!
So how does this relate to our hail storm phenomenon? We reminded ourselves that the air is warm when hail happens, and yet there's a temperature change before and after the hail arrives. We're curious how if this rising and falling air causes wind (which we also saw) and how this relates to cloud movement (since we saw those, too)! We also know that hail is frozen water, and the humidity was high before the hail storm.
Next steps: Clouds, humidity and wind!
Next steps: Clouds, humidity and wind!