Thermodynamic way to start the dayGrayson HerrAward: Top 100
School: marist high school I got out of my tent and went on a morning walk along the lake. The sun was just above the horizon and the water was clearer than I've ever seen it. I later realized that what I saw was not only beautiful, but a complex physics phenomenon. The mist formed due the cool, dry morning air hitting the warm lake water, causing rapid evaporation that almost immediately condenses into water that stays in the air. This is because water has a high heat capacity which prevents it from cooling as fast as the air does due to the temperature change with the sunrise. Evaporation increased the moisture of the air above it and when the air temperature reached its dew point, the water vapor condensed into microscopic droplets that hung in the air. I wish I could go back and appreciate the natural and physical beauty of this scene as much as I do now. 
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