What does the rain fall in drops?

Raindrops are water that condenses as a result of evaporation. That is why rain is also called precipitation. Rain always falls in drops and not as a continuous stream. This is mainly due to the surface tension of water caused due to the tendency of water molecules to stick together.

What is a large drop of water called?

A drop of water with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm falls through the atmosphere.

What do we call drops that are smaller than 0.5 mm?

We can call the growing drop a raindrop as soon as it reaches the size of 0.5 mm in diameter or larger. If it gets larger than 4 millimeters, however, it will usually split into two separate drops. The raindrop will continue to fall until it reaches the ground.

Why does the rain fall down instead of up?

Most precipitation begins as snow crystals or other solid forms. When they enter the warmer air below the cloud, these ice particles often melt and reach the ground as raindrops. A raindrop starts falling and then picks up speed due to gravity. Droplets that gain speed are slowed down by the drag of the surrounding air.

Why doesn't it rain all at once?

Originally Answered: Why doesn't the rain come down all at once? Rain occurs as a result of water vapor condensing either on a small part of a drop of rain or on dust or salt in the cloud. This does not all happen at the same time, so rain does not fall from all places in a cloud at the same time.

What is the largest drop of water?

Only about half as wide in diameter as a US penny, the largest raindrops ever recorded, between 8.8 mm and 1 cm, were observed by scientists in the clouds over Brazil (1995) and the Marshall Islands (1999).

What is the smallest drop of water?

water hexamer
The water hexamer is considered the smallest drop of water because it is the smallest water cluster that is three-dimensional, i.e. a cluster where the oxygen atoms of the molecules do not lie in the same plane.

Why are raindrops so small?

Rain forms in clouds when water vapor condenses on dust or other tiny particles that gradually build up. The turbulent air inside a storm cloud can help the process. It was assumed that the same collision process continued as it fell to the ground, resulting in some droplets being larger or smaller than others.

Why aren't clouds falling?

Water is not lighter than air – water does not flow. So why aren't clouds falling out of the sky? The two biggest reasons clouds stay in the sky are 1) tiny droplets and 2) wind. Because small droplets have less mass and more surface area than large droplets, they have a harder time pushing the air out of the way.

How big does a raindrop have to be to be called a drop?

As it falls, it eats even more drops. We can call the growing drop a raindrop as soon as it reaches the size of 0.5 mm in diameter or larger. If it gets larger than 4 millimeters, however, it will usually split into two separate drops. The raindrop will continue to fall until it reaches the ground.

What does it mean when water falls from above?

The water drop phenomenon is when you are hit by water falling from above without any rational explanation.

Why are raindrops like little water balls?

The drops sitting up here are like little balls of water, almost round and spherical. Raindrops form in this shape due to the surface tension of the water, which is sometimes described as a "skin" that causes the water molecules to stick together.

How big is the largest raindrop in the world?

However, drops up to 10 mm (equivalent in volume to a sphere with a radius of 4.5 mm) are theoretically stable and can float in a wind tunnel. The largest raindrop recorded was 8.8 mm in diameter, located at the base of a cumulus congestus cloud near Kwajalein Atoll in July 1999.