Q)why does adiabetic rate of coling change when condensation begins?
How does stable
air differ from unstable air?(4)
The displacement of an air parcel to an environment of low pressure without exchange
with surrounding air causes an increase in it's volume & a consequent lowering of temperature .Since,volumetric inrease involves work & consumption of energy so,both heat available per unit volume & temperature decreases.Such a temperature change involving no substraction & adition of heat is called adiabetic temperature change. Adiabetic lapse ate is the rate of temperature decrease in rising expanding air parcel.When this rising air parcel does not [roduce condensation it's caled Dry adiabetic lapse rate.However,prolongrd emperature decrease will result in super cooled water with latent heat energy stored in the form of potential energy since the air parcel is moving against gravity & contains energy to the amount of 2260Joules/gram of this moisture laden air.Condensation will take plae with the condensation taking place on suspended condensation nuclei in air , which also receives the 2260 Joules of energy from the water droplet by condensation.the total mass of air parcel increass due to density increase due to contracton & release of latent heat. This in turn decreases the rate of cooling caused due to dry adiabetic lapse rate.This decrease in the rate of cooling is also caused as loss of latent heat causes the contraction of particles (atoms & molecules) due to cooling increasing vapour pressure but the air being saturated with condensation nuclei which raises the freezing point of water vapour ( as we know prescence of solid increases the boiling point & freezing point.Eg.-pesence of salt in water increases the boiling point & freezing point.)This is the reason why adiabetic rate of coolin changes when condensation begins. A stable air when forced up or down has a tendency to return to it's former position once the motivating force ceases. An unstable air mass has a tendency to continue moving away from it's oroginal level when set in motion. A pacel of air may be stable at lower layers.If the air (stable ) is forced to rise due to passage over a mountain range or due to local surface heating etc. conditional instability may arise, as instability is dependent on the air mass becoming saturated,since,the environmental lapse rate is frequently between dry & saturated adiabetic rates.