10. The State of a Particle of Water
- Tom Payne
- Jul 10
- 1 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Then the next bit of the question, of course, is, What makes the vapour visible, when it is so? Why is the compressed steam transparent, the loose steam white, the dissolved steam transparent again?
The scientific people tell you that the vapour becomes visible, and chilled, as it expands. Many thanks to them; but can they show us any reason why particles of water should be more opaque when they are separated than when they are close together, or give us any idea of the difference of the state of a particle of water, which won’t sink in the air, from that of one that won’t rise in it? [1]
Footnotes
Audience response, “living barometer” (Yaxin Hu, BA Geography student, University of Manchester, 2025)
An audience member later described the glass of water on the performance desk as a “living barometer”, recording disturbance and change. See the full reflection and creative response by Yaxin Hu (BA Geography student, University of Manchester, 2025) in the note attached to section 20, Ice Clouds.