Question: Why are some clouds big and small why can't they be the same size?

Marisol Collins answered on 10 Nov 2016:

Hi Simi, Gosh, this isn’t really my area of science, but I did a little bit of research (because it’s fun!) and I learnt a bit about clouds. I learnt that clouds are made of tiny water or ice droplets that settle on particles of dust in the air. There is water vapour all around us in the air, and the higher into the sky you go, the cooler this air becomes, and this forces that water back into liquid form in a process called ‘condensation’. Air will also move around a lot as its temperature changes, and it is this movement of air around clouds as they form that can affect their shape. A lot of moisture in the air that condenses will form bigger clouds, and if the sun heats the air near the ground, making it rise upwards in a column, you will get the big lumpy clouds we often see in storms, called cumulus clouds. Another way the shape of clouds is affected is by the shape of the land itself. For example, huge mountains can cause clouds to form in many layers as the air is forced to rise and cool over the top them. Cool stuff! I’m sure @Lauren could tell you a lot more about this interesting subject!