where are cumulus clouds found in the atmosphere
Cumulus cloud
In this phase , water vapor condenses on various nuclei present in the air , forming the cumulus cloud . This creates the characteristic flat - bottomed puffy shape associated with cumulus clouds . The height of the cloud ( from its bottom to its top ) depends on the temperature profile of the atmosphere and the presence of any inversions . During the convection , surrounding air is entrained ( mixed ) with the thermal and the total mass of the ascending air increases . Rain forms in a cumulus cloud via a process involving two non-discrete stages . The first stage occurs after the droplets coalesce onto the various nuclei . Langmuir writes that surface tension in the water droplets provides a slightly higher pressure on the droplet , raising the vapor pressure by a small amount . The increased pressure results in those droplets evaporating and the resulting water vapor condensing on the larger droplets . Due to the extremely small size of the evaporating water droplets , this process becomes largely meaningless after the larger droplets have grown to around 20 to 30 micrometres , and the second stage takes over . In the accretion phase , the raindrop begins to fall , and other droplets collide and combine with it to increase the size of the raindrop . Langmuir was able to develop a formula which predicted that the droplet radius would grow unboundedly within a discrete time period .
In this phase , water vapor condenses on various nuclei present in the air , forming the cumulus cloud . This creates the characteristic flat - bottomed puffy shape associated with cumulus clouds . The height of the cloud ( from its bottom to its top ) depends on the temperature profile of the atmosphere and the presence of any inversions . During the convection , surrounding air is entrained ( mixed ) with the thermal and the total mass of the ascending air increases . Rain forms in a cumulus cloud via a process involving two non-discrete stages . The first stage occurs after the droplets coalesce onto the various nuclei . Langmuir writes that surface tension in the water droplets provides a slightly higher pressure on the droplet , raising the vapor pressure by a small amount . The increased pressure results in those droplets evaporating and the resulting water vapor condensing on the larger droplets . Due to the extremely small size of the evaporating water droplets , this process becomes largely meaningless after the larger droplets have grown to around 20 to 30 micrometres , and the second stage takes over . In the accretion phase , the raindrop begins to fall , and other droplets collide and combine with it to increase the size of the raindrop . Langmuir was able to develop a formula which predicted that the droplet radius would grow unboundedly within a discrete time period .