Thursday, October 16, 2008

The dew answer

Okay, here's the answer to the dew question. The reason that dew collects on the ground is because cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. So as the temperature cools to the "dewpoint" (thank you Garden Girl) the moisture collects on the ground. I think the dew point figure moves based on the amount of moisture in the air. I think the more moisture there is the higher the dew point? The book didn't address this so I'm just winging it.

As far as new dew in the mountains (Kristen) I think this is because the air is so dry there is no moisture to fall out of the air. I'm not sure why mountains tend to have a drier atmosphere. But this does explain why winter weather is drier.

I'm not sure I ever knew that cold air couldn't hold as much moisture as warm air...

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