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Question

A: Hailstones are formed when graupel particles or large frozen raindrops are present in supercooled clouds
B: Accretion of super-cooled cloud droplets increases with hailstone growth
Given the above two statements choose the correct answer from the following.

The correct answer is
Both A and B are correct

Hailstone Formation: Statement Verification

This question requires evaluating two statements about how hailstones form and grow in the atmosphere.

Analyzing Statement A: Hailstone Origins

Statement A posits that hailstones originate from graupel particles or large frozen raindrops within supercooled clouds. This is accurate. Graupel (soft hail or snow pellets) and frozen raindrops serve as the initial ice particles or 'embryos' upon which hailstones grow through accretion in strong updrafts common in cumulonimbus clouds.

Analyzing Statement B: Hailstone Growth Dynamics

Statement B suggests that the accretion of supercooled cloud droplets increases as the hailstone grows larger. This is also correct. Larger hailstones typically have higher terminal velocities. This increased speed allows them to collide more frequently with the surrounding supercooled water droplets, leading to a faster rate of growth via freezing of these droplets onto the hailstone's surface.

Conclusion

Both Statement A, describing the initial conditions and core particles for hailstone formation, and Statement B, explaining the growth process related to size, are factually correct descriptions in cloud physics.

Therefore, the correct option is the one that affirms the accuracy of both statements.

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Important Questions from Cloud Physics

  1. If the typical radius of a cloud droplet is $100$ times less than that of a raindrop, how many cloud droplets make a raindrop?
  2. Which of the following is true with increasing cloud thickness from $50\text{ m}$ to $10,000\text{ m}$?
  3. In the natural atmosphere with super-saturation rarely more than 1%, the most common form of nucleation associated with change of vapour to liquid is
  4. The Bergeron-Findeisen process of droplet growth involves
  5. Let the typical radius of a cloud droplet be $10 \text{ \mu m}$ and that of a rain droplet be $1 \text{ mm}$. Then, the number of cloud droplets that need to coalesce to form one rain droplet is:
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