NAME ____________________________________________ CLASS _____

CLOUD IN A BOTTLE
OR
BOTTLING UP THE GAS LAWS

ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION/EXPECTATIONS
Upon completion of this activity, you should know or understand:

  • How and why clouds form
  • Boyle's gas law
  • Charles' gas law
  • What condensation nuclei are.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
In this activity, you need to pretend the air inside the bottle is a miniature atmosphere, and like any other mass of gasses, it must obey the gas laws. When a parcel of air rises, its temperature and pressure decrease and certain things happen.

MATERIALS

  • Dry, clean, empty 2 or 3 liter soda bottle with lid. (3 liter is better.)
  • Liquid crystal aquarium thermometer.
  • 3x5 note card
  • Match
  • Few drops of water
  • Tape

METHODS/PROCEDURES

  1. Fold the 3x5 note card lengthwise into 3 equal sections and tape the ends to form a triangle.
  2. Tape the liquid crystal thermometer to one side of the triangle.
  3. Place the triangle in the dry bottle and securely tighten the lid.
  4. Lay the bottle on its side and stand on it while your partner watches and records any temperature change inside the bottle.
  5. Get off the bottle, unscrew the lid, strike the match and immediately blow it out in such a way that the smoke goes inside the bottle. (Your little atmosphere is polluted now.)
  6. Place a few drops of water in the bottle. (It now has humidity.)
  7. Securely tighten the lid on the bottle and stand on it again.
  8. After you have been on it for about a minute, step off and observe changes.


RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS

1. Explain what happened after the second time you stood on the bottle.

 

2. Why was the smoke from the match needed?

 

3. Does this demonstrate how clouds are formed?

 

4. How was Boyle's law demonstrated?

 

5. How was Charles law demonstrated?

 

6. What happened to the temperature inside the bottle on your first trial?

 

7. If the humid air rises in the atmosphere very quickly where there is very little pressure and temperatures are very low what type of precipitation would you expect to be forming?

 

BONUS QUESTION:
8. If the updrafts in the atmosphere kept a precipitation particle moving up and down within the cloud, collecting more and more moisture by collisions and coalescence at below freezing temperatures, what type of precipitation would you expect to be forming?