DIVE Earth Science Quarterly Exam 1 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

When water vapor condenses in the atmosphere, it cools and transforms from a gas to a liquid state, leading to the formation of clouds. This process occurs as air rises and cools, allowing moisture to coalesce around tiny particles called condensation nuclei. As more water vapor condenses, these tiny droplets cluster together to form visible clouds in the sky.

While rain, snow, and fog are all associated with condensation processes, they represent different stages or conditions. Rain occurs when cloud droplets combine and grow large enough to fall to the ground, while snow forms under specific temperature conditions when water vapor sublimates directly into ice crystals. Fog, on the other hand, is essentially a cloud that forms at ground level where air is cooled to its dew point, resulting in water vapor condensing into tiny droplets that hang in the air. Thus, clouds are the primary structure created directly from the condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere.