water vapor turning to frost is an example of
Deposition (phase transition) One example of deposition is the process by which, in sub-freezing air, water vapor changes directly to ice without first becoming a liquid. This is how snow forms in clouds, as well as how frost and hoar frost form on the ground or other surfaces. Another example is when frost forms on a leaf. For deposition to occur, thermal energy must be removed from a gas. When the air becomes cold enough, water vapor in the air surrounding the leaf loses enough thermal energy to change into a solid. Even though the air temperature may be below the dew point, the water vapor may not be able to condense spontaneously if there is no way to remove the latent heat. When the leaf is introduced, the supercooled water vapor immediately begins to condense, but by this point is already past the freezing point. This causes the water vapor to change directly into a solid.
Cirrus cloud Cirrus clouds are formed when water vapor undergoes deposition at high altitudes where the atmospheric pressure ranges from 600 mbar at 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level to 200 mbar at 12,000 m (39,000 ft) above sea level.[13] These conditions commonly occur at the leading edge of a warm front.[14] Because humidity is low at such high altitudes, this genus-type tends to be very thin.[2] Cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets in regions where air temperature is lower than -20 °C or -30 °C.Cirrus usually occur in fair weather.They are formed when it is high enough to be cold and freeze the water drops into ice. They sometimes may be caused by turbulence and wind shear, or by upper-tropospheric convection. Sometimes they are like blown out ice-crystals spreading from the top of a dying cumulonimbus.