why do the clouds pick up salt water, but then rain falls down as fresh water?

Question

why do the clouds pick up salt water, but then rain falls down as fresh water?

Answer 1

The way that water gets into clouds is by evaporating and turning into water vapor. During this evaporation process, the salt doesn't evaporate with the water -- it gets left behind as salt. (You can check this out by completely disolving a bunch of salt in half a cup of water in a pan and then heating it to a boil until all the water is evaporated off as steam. You'll find that the salt remains in the pan.)



So since the water vapor didn't take any salt with it, clouds are formed of fresh water, no mater what form the water was before evaporating. As a result, the rain can only fall as fresh water.

Answer 2

Clouds don't pick up salt water. Water evaporates from salt water sources such as the ocean. But only the water goes, the dissolved salts and ions and such don't travel with it.



Same process as distilling really. You evaporate the water from a source, collect the water vapor, and cool it to condese it. And viola, pure H2O. No unwanted salts or ions.



Salts do not have the same heat of vaporization or boiling point. Since water boils at a much lower temperature than the salt, the water evaporates leaving the salts behind.

Answer 3

it is not always that it picks up salt water it draws water by evoperation by condensation process the salt / dirt is removed, if salt content/ acid content in air is more we dont get pure water or else we do get

Answer 4

I actually think that the couds (aka evaopration_ that happens filters out the salt. kind of lik when you put salt in water and make salt crystals.

Answer 5

because only water is evaporated not salt.