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Clouds are exploding for monsoon at the Arizona Science Center

The Forces of Nature floor is home to all kinds of weather phenomena from around the globe. Sari, chief curiosity officer, can often be seen moving around the area, wowing families with out-of-this-world experiments.

PHOENIX - Monsoon 2018 is here and the Arizona Science Center is simulating our infamous desert storms for the whole family!

The Forces of Nature floor is home to all kinds of weather phenomena from around the globe. Sari, chief curiosity officer, can often be seen moving around the area, wowing families with out-of-this-world experiments.

Sari demonstrated an experiment you can easily do from home. All you need is an empty two-liter soda bottle, rubbing alcohol and a fizz-keeper pump.

Sari says you can pour a tablespoon or so of rubbing alcohol inside of the soda bottle, swirl it around, close the pump and then pump up the bottle to increase pressure. The bottle should be very tight when squeezed. Then, release the pressure from the fizz-keeper pump and a cloud is created.

Sari says the rubbing alcohol simulates the moisture in the air, just like when dew points rise across the state during monsoon. When the fizz-keeper is opened, pressure is released very quickly and allows the water in the air to condense around particles in the bottle, creating a cloud.

There are also larger scale cloud experiments involving liquid nitrogen that can only be seen at the Arizona Science Center.

For more information click here.

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