eli5: How do (presumably very heavy) clouds stay suspended in the sky? More specifically how are they floating AND flat on the bottom?

Question

And what causes them to suddenly drop all of that water in the form of rain.

Judging by the amount of rain they must weigh a ton.

In: 337

Answer 1

I can’t believe how many wrong answers are being given here confidently. All solid objects are heavier than air. Clouds are made of either liquid or frozen solid water. They are always “heavier” than air. They are not held up by buoyancy. A cloud in the simplest sense can be modeled as a single very tiny drop of water. This drop is significantly denser than air. Yet it falls extremely slowly not because it’s buoyant but because of drag and updrafts. Have you never seen a dust mote in the sunlight ? Dust is much denser than air too. But like water droplets its “fall velocity” may be a cm per sec or less , too slow to see and easily offset by updrafts. A better explanation for clouds floating is not that they are floating but that they are being blown up into the air , much like an airplane, another object which seems to defy gravity.