Droplet Growth

PSYCHE JANE C. ATINEN

Droplet Size
Size

Condensation

Evaporation
Mechanisms of Growth
Collision and
Condensation
Coalescence

Bergeron Process
Condensation
→ Conversion of water vapor into liquid

Air is said to be saturated when air holds

the maximum amount of water vapor
which it can hold at that temperature.
Solute Effect Curvature Effect
Raoult’s law Kelvin effect

Change in saturation
vapor pressure due to

% of solute Curved surface

These two effects both work
together to dictate how a droplet
will grow.
Cloud droplets form when the amount of water vapor reaches a threshold
value. Larger cloud droplets form when organic molecules (in red) are present
on the surface instead of dissolving in the interior, or bulk, of the droplet.
Collision and
Coalescence
Coalescence is the process by which
two or more droplets or particles
merge during contact to form a single
droplet.

Q: When are drops large enough to be

stable?
A: When latent heat balances surface
tension
Bergeron Process
→ For mixed phase clouds

→ The saturation vapor pressure of

water, or how much water vapor a
given volume can contain, depends
on what the vapor is interacting with.
References
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_physics
2. https://slideplayer.com/slide/12850037/
3. https://vortex.plymouth.edu/dept/tutorials/precip/precip2aaa.html
4. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/03/24/cloud-formation/
5. https://studylib.net/doc/16106191/cloud-droplet-growth-by-condensation-sio217a-dara-
goldber...