Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Dewpoint Experiment 
Name: Kim
Status: Educator
Age: 30s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
What is a good junior high science experiment on the topic of dewpoint?

Replies:
Kim -

Have you tried the 2 liter bottle/cloud chamber experiement. It is a good example of condensation at the dew point, but you must first explain adiabatic cooling... not too hard.

Raise the humidity in the bottle by adding a little water and sealing the top. Squeeze the bottle causing it to adiabaticly warm and therefore hold more of the water in a vapor form. Release the pressure on the bottle causing the temperature to drop adiabaticly and ... Poof!...condensation. The saturated air must give up some of its water because it has cooled to the dew point.

Try it... you'll like it.

Larry Krengel

Click here to return to the Weather Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory