Why is there so many type of clouds, if they’re made of the same thing?
In: Chemistry
Clouds are classified according to how they look and how high the base of the cloud is in the sky. This system was suggested in 1803. There are different sorts of clouds because the air where they form can be still or moving forward or up and down at different speeds. Very thick clouds with large enough water droplets can make rain or snow, and the biggest clouds can make thunder and lightning.
There are five basic families of clouds based on how they look:
* Cirrus clouds are high and thin. The air is very cold at high levels, so these clouds are made of ice crystals instead of water droplets. Cirrus clouds are sometimes called mares’ tails because they look like the tails of a horse.
* Stratus clouds are like flat sheets. They may be low-level clouds (stratus), medium-level (altostratus), high-level (cirrostratus), or thick multi-level clouds that make rain or snow (nimbostratus).
* Stratocumulus clouds are in the form of rolls or ripples. They may be low-level clouds (stratocumulus), medium-level (altocumulus), or high-level (cirrocumulus).
* Cumulus clouds are puffly and small when they first form. They may grow into heap clouds that have moderate vertical extent (nothing added to the name), or become towering vertical clouds (towering cumulus).
* Cumulonimbus clouds are very large cumulus-type clouds that usually develop cirrus tops and sometimes other features that give them their own unique look.
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