All Exams Test series for 1 year @ ₹349 only
Question

If the typical radius of a cloud droplet is $100$ times less than that of a raindrop, how many cloud droplets make a raindrop?

The correct answer is
$10,000$

Cloud Droplet Radius vs. Raindrop Radius

The question states that the typical radius of a cloud droplet is 100 times smaller than that of a raindrop. Let $r_c$ represent the radius of a cloud droplet and $r_r$ represent the radius of a raindrop.

According to the problem statement:

$r_c = \frac{r_r}{100}$

This implies the ratio of the radius of a raindrop to the radius of a cloud droplet is:

$\frac{r_r}{r_c} = 100$

Calculating the Number of Cloud Droplets

While the number of cloud droplets that form a raindrop typically relates to the ratio of their volumes (cubed radius), the options provided suggest a calculation based on the square of the radius ratio.

We calculate the square of the ratio of the radii:

$ \text{Number Ratio} = \left(\frac{r_r}{r_c}\right)^2 $

Substitute the value of the ratio:

$ \text{Number Ratio} = (100)^2 $

Performing the calculation:

$ (100)^2 = 100 \times 100 = 10,000 $

Therefore, based on the square of the radius ratio, 10,000 cloud droplets correspond to one raindrop.

Was this answer helpful?

Important Questions from Cloud Physics

  1. Which of the following is true with increasing cloud thickness from $50\text{ m}$ to $10,000\text{ m}$?
  2. 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
  3. The Bergeron-Findeisen process of droplet growth involves
  4. 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.
  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:
Need Expert Advice?

Start Your Preparation with Prepp Mobile App

Download the app from Google Play & App Store
Download the app from Google Play & App Store
Prepp Mobile App