Recently a tornado hit Brooklyn and Staten Island. The sky turned dark green and rain poured in to there. Trees fell which led to street closures accidents and mass transit delays. How are tornados like these evidence that air is matter?
Tornadoes, like the one you mentioned in Brooklyn and Staten Island, can indeed serve as evidence that air is matter. To understand this, let's break it down:
1. Tornado formation: Tornadoes typically form when warm, moist air collides with cold, dry air, creating an unstable atmosphere. As a result, the air starts to rotate in a vertical column. This rotating column extends from the base of a storm cloud to the ground, creating a funnel-shaped vortex.
2. Air as matter: One of the fundamental properties of matter is that it occupies space and has mass. Air, although it may seem invisible, is composed of tiny particles called molecules, primarily oxygen and nitrogen. These molecules have mass and take up space, filling the Earth's atmosphere.
3. Effects of a tornado: When a tornado occurs, the violent rotating winds interact with the surrounding air. It picks up various objects, including dust, debris, and even water droplets, creating a visible funnel cloud. The dark green sky you mentioned is attributed to the sunlight passing through the storm clouds and being scattered by the water droplets present in the air.
4. Fallen trees and street closures: As the tornado moves through an area, it generates extremely strong winds. These powerful gusts, along with the rapidly rotating vortex, can uproot trees and cause them to fall. The fallen trees result in road closures and obstructed streets, leading to accidents and transit delays.
So, tornadoes provide evidence that air is indeed matter because the movement and impact of tornadoes demonstrate the physical properties of air, including its mass, the ability to carry dust and debris, and its influence on weather phenomena like wind, rain, and clouds.