What Do Clouds Taste Like? (And Can You Eat a Cloud?)

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Clouds are a wonder to behold. Most of them look fluffy and white and are sometimes gloomy and grey. The grim and grey clouds are usually observed when it’s about to rain. When you think of clouds, you probably think about delicious cotton candy. We don’t blame you; they look perfectly edible. Their fresh fluffy looks make them appear magical. As a result of this, you might ask, what do clouds taste like?

To answer this question correctly, we need to consider what they are actually made of. They are made up of water droplets or ice crystals. The water droplets are so tiny and light that they float in the air, stick together and form more giant clouds.

However, because the air is full of dirt and other particles, clouds are not made up of water droplets alone. The dirt and particles in the air mix with the droplets to form a cloud. So, to answer what clouds taste like, we can assume correctly that they taste like water.

What Does Cloud Feel Like When You Taste It?

People don’t go around eating the cloud, that’s for sure. While most are formed high up in the sky due to the weight of the water droplets that create them, some are easily accessible. As a result of this, it’s reasonable to ask what a cloud feels like when it’s eaten.

Clouds are composed of vaporized water, and they feel like mist. If you put your hands through one, you probably won’t feel anything because the water present in it is in gaseous form. As a result of this, clouds can move with the weather. They can also be formed from water vapor or crystals of ice.

This can potentially determine what clouds would feel like when tasted.

We can expect the clouds found in lower altitudes to be heavier and warmer than those in high altitudes. The higher the altitude, the cooler it becomes. So, the clouds closer to the ground are filled with water vapor.

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On the other hand, the clouds higher in the sky are cooler and can precipitate as rain, snowflakes, or hailstones. Hence, tasting the clouds would probably feel like drinking warm or cool water.

What Would Touching a Cloud Feel Like?

Yes, touching a cloud is entirely possible. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon high up in the sky? Or stayed on the topmost floor of a skyscraper? It must have been so tempting to touch the clouds, with them being so close. They don’t seem so far out of reach anymore.

Being in a skyscraper, one might come close enough to touch a cloud, but close enough isn’t precisely touching it. One of the best ways to feel an airborne cloud is skydiving or hot air balloons. Airplanes would have been another great option, except that airplane windows are kept shut. Also, no one wants to be stuck in a cloud while traveling in a plane or a hot air balloon.

Looking at the clouds, we would be tempted to think that they feel like fluffy cotton balls or cotton candy. They look it, so they should feel like it, right? While they don’t feel like cotton balls or cotton candy, many people have touched a cloud.

To answer the question correctly, touching a cloud would feel like touching humid air. If you’ve ever gone outside on a foggy day, you’ve felt a cloud before. Fogs are clouds that are much closer to the ground. Clouds and fogs are both made up of tiny water droplets.

Can You Eat a Cloud?

Clouds are not only made up of tiny droplets of water. Although those are their major components, they are also made up of a gas known as helium. It is rare and is also called inert gas. So clouds are primarily helium, water, and a little unbound hydrogen and oxygen.

Helium is an inert gas. This means that it’s an unreactive gas. If it were to get into the body, it would not react with any of the body’s elements and cause any damage. We drink water daily to stay healthy. As clouds are made up of water vapor and helium, they are not harmful to eat.

While eating clouds isn’t exactly harmful, it certainly isn’t nutritious. The only side effects that you might notice are flatulence and misleading scale readings. However, one can’t technically eat a cloud, as that would be like saying you’re eating water, which is an impossible feat. Water is not eaten; it’s drunk.

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What Do Clouds Weigh?

Do clouds have weight? If they do, how can we walk under them without the fear of them dropping from the sky and falling us? We see clouds floating in the sky, and we assume that they don’t have any weight. This assumption is entirely wrong.

To think about the weight of a cloud, we must first consider its major component. Water is the major component found in clouds. In its own self, water has a mass and a density. Hence, the clouds in the sky must have a weight.

Since water has weight, clouds must also have weight and density, as they contain water and other particles. You must be asking, how then do they float if they have weight? Think of it this way; you float in a large body of water because the density of your body is lower than the density of the water body. Similarly, the density of a given volume of cloud material is lower than that of a given volume of dry air.

This phenomenon perfectly explains why clouds float. The weight of a cloud is still a mystery, but not for long. Those large white blobs floating overhead may appear light and fluffy, but their weights are quite substantial. A typical cloud has a volume and density of approximately 1km3and 1.003kg/m3, respectively.

The weight of an average cloud is about 1.1 million pounds. If you’re not shocked by this, think about the weight of about 100 elephants. Just think about that floating right above your head. Isn’t that amazing?

Can a Cloud Burst?

When we say cloud burst, it doesn’t typically mean the same thing as when a bubble bursts. As a cloud becomes heavily saturated, the water drops become heavier, and precipitation occurs. The term cloudburst is used when a heavy burst of rain falls in a small area for a short amount of time.

Cloudburst comes from the idea that clouds are like water balloons that can burst, causing quick rainfall. Even though this theory has subsequently been debunked, the phrase is still used. Over 20mm of rain can fall in a few minutes during a cloud burst. Cloudbursts can have several severe consequences or effects.

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So can a cloud burst? Yes, it can burst, but typically not in a sense you would normally think. Creating a low-pressure area on the peak of a mountain causes a cloudburst in high-altitude regions. Clouds are drawn to it by low-pressure zones.

The moisture content is then released in the form of rain when they reach their peak. Cloudbursts aren’t often associated with heavy rain. However, they could be very dangerous. This depends on the amount of rain that falls, especially if it lasts for several hours.

How Are Clouds Formed?

Clouds don’t just appear in the sky randomly. They are formed through a process known as the water cycle. The water eventually ends in seas, lakes, rivers, streams, and puddles when rain falls. These water bodies get warmed up by the sun.

As the water warms, it turns into tiny droplets known as vapor. This process is known as evaporation. As the water vapor rises into the atmosphere, it becomes cooler and condenses. These tiny water droplets keep clumping together as they cool to form small clouds.

As the size of the cloud increases, the tiny water droplets become more prominent and heavier. The cloud is saturated when it contains as much water vapor as it can hold. This usually takes an average of two days. Once the cloud is saturated with larger and heavier water droplets, the droplets succumb to gravity and return to the ground.

This process is known as precipitation. Precipitation can occur in many forms, such as rain, snow, sleet, and hail. While condensation might lead to precipitation, condensation alone can’t lead to rainfall. The complete evaporation, condensation, and precipitation process are repeated as the water cycle.

Conclusion

Clouds are a beauty to behold, especially the white, fluffy-looking ones. They create the right atmosphere for a picnic in the meadow. While they don’t taste like cotton candy or feel like cotton balls, if you ever find yourself skydiving or in a hot air balloon, live a little, open your mouth wide and taste the magic of the clouds.

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