Why does condensation appear as clouds in this experiment?

Question

if you put hot water in a jar, and then put ice in a metal baking tray and place it on top of the jar of ice, why does condensation appear on the sides of the ice bowl to form a cloud?

How is this also like clouds in the sky?

Answer 1

This is an old "Dew Point" demonstration.  Dew point is the temperature at which the moisture in a volume of air becomes visible.  The point is the glass on the inside of the jar stays clear but the outside becomes cloudy.  The reason is the warm moist air inside the jar can hold more moisture (humidity) than the cooler air surrounding the jar.  Thus, the cooler air just outside the jar has reached its dew point and the moisture condenses and becomes visible.

There is actually more moisture in the air inside the jar but because it is warmer (less dense) it can hold more moisture.  

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Answer 2

clouds form when water vapor (invisible) is cooled to the point where vapor turns back into liquid (water), albeit in tiny droplet form.

Besides temperature, air pressure has a role in when this transition occurs.

If you understand what the temperature changes and air pressure changes do, and the role of wind (current), you understand a lot about the weather.

Answer 3

It is simple: the molecules of air can be mixed to molecules of water ... to a certain point.

At 15 degrees Celsius, the average temperature on earth, one cubic meter of air can sustain up to 14 grams of water.

If the temperature of the air sinks, there isn't any more place for that water to stay as a gas and it has to condense into droplets of water in order to continue to exist.

When the air is completely saturated with water, it is called the dew point and the relative humidity is said to be 100%.

Clouds appear in the sky because as warm air near the ground rises, it cools down at a rate of about 0.65 C per 100 meter of altitude. This is because the air pressure sinks with altitude and when it does that, it cools down by so-called adiabatic effect; the same that is used in your fridge.

This is why, when the air reaches a certain altitude and the temperature is at dew point, the moisture in the air has to condense into droplets thus forming the base of the clouds.

In your jar of hot water, you have hot air at 100% humidity. If you cool it down from the top with ice, you re-create the cooling of the atmosphere in altitude and you get condensation similar to that of a cloud.