ScienceGrade 2nd· How Do Raindrops Form?

How Do Raindrops Form?

Water evaporates and rises into the air as water vapor

Learning Objective

Students will learn how tiny water droplets in clouds join together to become raindrops that fall to the ground.

Water evaporates and rises into the air as water vapor
As it rises, the air gets colder and the water vapor condenses into tiny droplets
Many tiny droplets stick together to make bigger, heavier drops
When drops get heavy enough, gravity pulls them down as rain
Rain is part of the water cycle

Raindrop: A drop of water that falls from a cloud; "A raindrop landed on my nose."
Evaporate: When liquid water turns into vapor and rises; "The puddle evaporated in the sun."
Condense: When vapor cools and turns back into droplets; "Water vapor condensed into a cloud."
Water cycle: How water moves around Earth; "Rain is part of the water cycle."

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Which of these is TRUE?

Raindrops form through the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, coalescence, and precipitation
Source: NOAA / National Weather Service
Solar energy evaporates water from Earth's surface into water vapor
Source: USGS Water Science School
As water vapor rises, it cools and condenses onto tiny particles to form cloud droplets
Source: NWS
Cloud droplets are about 0.01 mm in diameter — too small to fall as rain
Source: NOAA
Droplets collide and coalesce to form larger drops; when drops reach ~0.5–2 mm, gravity overcomes air resistance and they fall as rain
Source: NWS
A single raindrop can contain over a million condensed cloud droplets
Source: NOAA / USGS

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