1Two things air does
Air has weight — and rising air gets cold
You only need two ideas. Watch each one:
Air presses down
Air isn't nothing — it has weight. A whole sky of it presses down on you. A gauge called a barometer just measures how hard the air is pushing at one spot.
Rising air gets cold
As an air parcel rises into lower surrounding pressure, it expands and cools. Here the changing color tracks its temperature. Whether a cloud forms also depends on moisture.
Try the ingredient below. Make a prediction before you compare the completed cases.
2Your turn — push the air around
Slide the pressure and watch the air column
Drag the slider to set the pressure at this spot. This simplified weather-system model links pressure with vertical air motion. Watch the air packet and gauge; sky conditions are saved for the experiment — slide it low and the air lifts up, slide it high and the air sinks down.
Pressure at this spot: just right
3Now the gauge is climbing
A rising gauge — so is bigger pressure a bigger storm? 🌡️
You know a falling needle warns of a storm. But here the needle is doing the opposite — climbing fast, more and more pressure, heavier and heavier air. No slider this time. Does piling on more air mean an even bigger storm… or something else entirely? Guess first, then press play and watch what the air really does.
Guess before you press play
The pressure on the gauge is climbing fast — more and more air piling on. So what does rising pressure bring?