Page 188 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

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How heavy

is a cloud?

Scientists estimate that the weight
of water vapor in a fluffy white
A typical
cumulus cloud is 0.02 oz (0.5 g) cumulus cloud
for every 35 cubic feet (1 cubic meter) weighs slightly
more than two
Boeing 787
of cloud. This means that a ¼ cubic Dreamliners.
mile(1 km³) cloud weighs

550 tons (500 metric tons).

TURBULENT TIMES

The Boeing 787
Dreamliner has
a maximum takeoff
weight of 250 tons
(228 metric tons).
Air rises and falls inside clouds, If a cloud is heavier than two aircraft,
creating swirling hot and cold it is hard to imagine how it can float.
currents. This can cause The reason it does so is because the air
turbulence when airplanes underneath the cloud is denser than the
cloud, and so holds it up. The weight of
fly through them, making the a cloud is spread out over billions of tiny
craft wobble and lose altitude. water droplets. As these become heavier,
the cloud breaks up and falls as rain.

US_186-187_309600_Heavy_Cloud.indd 186 19/12/17 2:37 pm