Rain's Dirty Little Secret

Want to learn more about the topic in this week's video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started: - Condensation - the process of water molecules glomming together into visible droplets - Condensation nuclei - tiny solid particles that water vapor condenses onto (also called aerosols) - Homogenous condensation - condensation without any kind of condensation nuclei - Dew point - the temperature below which water vapor starts to condense into droplets - Heterogenous condensation - condensation that happens with the help of condensation nuclei - Critical Embryo - a cluster of water molecules big enough to easily gain more molecules - Cloud chamber - a cool thing to check out if you want to build a particle detector at home (it involves pumping a bunch of water vapor into pure air; when a particle passes through, it leaves a streak of ionized water molecules that, in super-saturated air, can act as condensation nuclei!)