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Why don't clouds fall down?

The droplets are tinyRising air carries themWhen they grow, they fall

Clouds are actually made of tiny drops of water, and these drops are so light that rising warm air can carry them.

Clouds look like giant puffs of cotton candy floating in the sky, but they are really made of tiny water drops and ice crystals. These drops are so small and light that they can float in the air easily, just like a speck of dust.

When the ground gets warm from the sun, warm air rises up. This rising air keeps pushing the tiny water drops inside the cloud upward. So instead of falling to the ground, the drops keep floating in the air.

As the drops bump into each other and join together, they get bigger and heavier. Once they get big and heavy enough, the air can no longer hold them up, and they start to fall down. That is when it rains!

Quick facts

Clouds are made of tiny water drops and ice crystals.
These drops are so small and light that they can easily stay up in the air.
Rising warm air carries the drops and keeps them up high.
The drops get heavier as they join together and grow bigger.
When the drops get heavy enough, they fall to the ground as rain.

Check what you remember

3 questions — all of them come from the quick facts above. There is no score and no wrong turn.

1. What are clouds made of?

2. Why do cloud drops stay up in the air?

3. When does rain start to fall?

Where this comes from

1 tr.wikipedia.org 80/100
Cloud - Wikipedia
A trustworthy encyclopedia page that explains how clouds form and their different types.
2 tr.wikipedia.org 75/100
Rain - Wikipedia
A page that explains how rain forms from clouds.
3 nasa.gov 70/100
NASA
An official organization's website with scientific information about the sky and weather.

💧

The Water Cycle

Water evaporates from the seas and rises into the sky. Up there it turns into clouds, then comes back down as rain. This cycle keeps repeating without ever stopping.

🌧️

How Rain Forms

The tiny drops inside a cloud bump into each other and join together, growing bigger. Once a drop gets big enough, it falls to the ground because of its weight.

🎈

Why Warm Air Rises

Warm air is lighter than cold air. That is why warm air always rises up, just like a hot air balloon.

☁️

Types of Clouds

Some clouds are thin and wispy, while others are thick and gray. Thick, gray clouds usually bring rain.

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