Making Fog

Learn about how fog is formed!

 MATERIALS:

  • glass jar

  • strainer

  • hot water

  • ice

TIME ESTIMATED:

5-10 minutes

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Fill the glass jar completely with hot water and allow it to sit for about one minute.

  2. Remove all of the water but an inch from the bottom

  3. Place the strainer on top of the glass jar and fill it with 3-4 ice cubes

  4. Have students make observations about the effects of the experiment and try to explain the mechanisms behind the process observed. (The result of the experiment should be the creation of dense fog emerging from the jar)

  5. Using the explanation of science below, explain to students the mechanisms behind the process observed and its role in the water cycle

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

In this experiment, fog is created by mixing the cold air from the ice cubes with the warm air from the hot water. The water vapor in the air has a large difference in temperature, which makes the water vapor bigger and turns it into fog. This is called condensation! Fog that forms this way is called infrared cooling, which happens when the seasons change from summer to fall

Anticipated COncerns

Have an adult handle the hot water so that the student does not accidentally burn themselves.

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