A couple weekends ago science broke out in our kitchen. Because Austin was reading and got curious which is how all learning takes place right? We then went to YouTube, and then started a science experiment in our kitchen. One question Austin asked how clouds are made. We went about making clouds in a jar, very similar to how we made rain in a jar, to answer her question.
This is really simple to do.
Making Clouds in a Jar
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You need a jar. Some hot (boiling works best) water, a plate that will fit snug on top of your jar, hair spray in an aerosol can, and some ice cubes.
Put your ice cubes on the plate. About 4 or so, we used massive ice cubes meant for whiskey.
Fill your jar about a third of the way up with hot water.
Spray a quick blast of an aerosol hairspray into the jar and very quickly put your plate on top of the jar.
Make a cloud in a jar for your next #science experiment. Click To TweetWhat’s happening:
By pouring hot water into a jar and trapping it, you created warm, moist air. As the warm air inside the jar rose, it was cooled by the ice on top of the jar.
When the water vapour cooled, it wanted to turn back into liquid, but it needed to condense onto a surface. The aerosol spray provided cloud condensation nuclei: a surface for the water vapour to condense into tiny cloud droplets.
The cloud swirled inside the jar due to the circulation of warm air rising and cold air sinking. I shared this quick video on Instagram after did it.
If you try this out at home I would love to see how it goes for you and what your kids think of it.
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Neat! We have been learning a lot about states of matter, so this would be a great visual. Thanks!
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I hope that you try it and like it. 🙂
I love how you can hear your little’s approval in the video! Cool indeed.
They loved it! We did two in one day, and they wanted to keep going. We love science experiments.
Really cool lesson plan. I loved it. Please feel free to share with us at Literacy Musing Mondays. http://maryanderingcreatively.com/scripture-stories/
What a fun science experiment. Thanks for sharing at #ToddlerFunFriday
My son would love to do this! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday — hope to see you next time. 🙂
I love trapping clouds in a jar like this!