• Question: why don't cloud float up to space

    Asked by dallynmccrorie to Ben, Clare, Ezzy, Mario, Sam on 15 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Elizabeth Pearson

      Elizabeth Pearson answered on 15 Mar 2012:


      Gravity and air pressure. Different types of clouds are at different heights depending on how the two balance.

    • Photo: Clare Burrage

      Clare Burrage answered on 15 Mar 2012:


      Gravity pulls everything down towards the Earth, so unless we give things a lot of energy nothing can travel out into space. The clouds are help up by the pressure of our atmosphere, but it’s not enough to over come the force of gravity.

    • Photo: Mario Campanelli

      Mario Campanelli answered on 21 Mar 2012:


      clouds are made of water vapour, so they have a weight. Their altitude is a compromise between gravity that pushes them down and the air pressure from behind, that pushes them up

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