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Ask
Aubie appears weekly in the Opelika-Auburn News.
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August
17, 2004
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| QUESTION
#1 |
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This
week's first question is from:
Will Givens |
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Dear
Aubie,
My question is about clouds. Since there’s gravity, why
don’t the clouds fall out of the sky?
Thanks for helping me with this.
Your friend,
Will Givens |
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| ANSWER |
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Helping
Aubie this week is:
Dr. Joseph Perez
Professor and head of AU's Physics
Department in the College of Science and Mathematics |
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Dear
Will,
Clouds are made up of very tiny droplets of water or very small
crystals of ice. You are absolutely right that the gravity of
the Earth is pulling them. But they are so light that they are
able to float in air. They are similar to balloons that you
play with and that either float in the air or fall very slowly.
When the tiny water particles in the cloud bump into each other
and stick together, they get heavier. Then gravity pulls them
down, and they fall out of the sky. This is what we call rain
or hail.
Thanks
for your question,
Aubie and Dr. Perez
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| QUESTION
#2 |
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This
week's second question is from:
Dustin Scoggins, age 10, 5th grade
Casey Scoggins, age 6, 1st grade
Cary Woods Elementary School |
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Dear
Aubie,
I’m 10 and my brother Casey is 6 and we never agree on
stuff. I want to know what the temperature is on Mars but he
wants to know what’s the temperature on Jupiter and how
you can tell what it is if you haven’t been there. So I
hope you can you answer both of us but if you can’t then
you should please answer mine because I’m the oldest and
he can’t even read good yet and couldn’t write this
either.
Dustin & Casey Scoggins |
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| ANSWER |
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Dear
Dustin and Casey,
First of all, it is important to realize that there is no
one temperature for Mars or Jupiter. The temperature on Earth
is different in the winter and summer, at different places
on the Earth such as the North Pole and the desert, and at
different heights such as in valleys and at the tops of high
mountains. On both Mars and Jupiter, the temperature ranges
from approximately -225 °F to 80 °F. Even though scientists
have not gone to Mars or Jupiter, they have sent satellites
with instruments that radio back information about the temperature
of these planets. Scientists can also measure temperatures
on the planets while remaining here on Earth. Just like you
know that fire is hot when you see it even though you may
be too far away to feel the heat, special instruments can
be used to measure the temperature of objects in the sky.
In fact students here at Opelika Middle School and their teacher
Pat Reader have used the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope
in California to measure temperatures on Jupiter.
Thanks
for your question,
Aubie and Dr. Perez
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