Hi there! Have you ever noticed something cool when it’s really cold outside? You might see soap bubbles freeze or boiling water turn into snow. But there’s another fun thing that happens, and it’s all about your breath!
Water is everywhere, even if you can’t always see it. We usually think of water as the liquid we drink or swim in. But did you know that water can change into different forms?
Water can be a liquid, like the kind you drink. It can also turn into a solid, like ice, when it gets really cold. Have you ever seen a frozen lake or a waterfall in winter? That’s water in its solid form!
When it gets warmer, ice melts back into liquid water, and you can splash around in it again. But there’s another form of water that’s a bit tricky because you can’t see it. It’s called a gas.
When water gets warm enough, it can turn into a gas. Imagine a puddle on a sunny day. It looks like it’s disappearing, but it’s actually changing into a gas and floating into the air. This gas is all around us, even if we can’t see it.
Our bodies have a lot of water, and they’re warm too. Just like the puddle, the warmth from our bodies can turn some of this water into a gas. When we breathe out, some of this water goes into the air as an invisible gas.
Usually, we can’t see the water in our breath because it’s a gas. But on a cold day, something special happens. When you breathe out, the cold air turns the gas back into tiny drops of liquid. These drops are so small that they float in the air, and that’s why you see your breath! It’s like magic!
Want to see this in action? Try breathing onto a cold window or a glass of ice water. You’ll see a foggy mist appear. That’s the water in your breath turning back into a liquid!
So, let’s remember the three forms of water: solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (invisible air). Temperature changes can make water switch between these forms. When it’s cold, the gas in your breath turns back into tiny liquid drops, and that’s why you can see it.
Thanks for exploring this cool question with us! Keep wondering about the world around you, and stay curious. See you next time!
Breath Experiment: Try this fun experiment to see your breath in action! On a chilly day, go outside with a small mirror or a piece of glass. Breathe onto it and watch what happens. Can you see the foggy mist? That’s the water in your breath turning into tiny drops of liquid. Try it at different times of the day and see if the mist changes. Why do you think that happens?
Water Form Hunt: Go on a scavenger hunt around your home or school to find examples of water in its different forms. Can you find something that’s frozen, like ice? How about a liquid, like a glass of water? Look for steam or mist, which is water in its gas form. Draw or take pictures of what you find and share with your class. Discuss how temperature affects each form.
Weather Watch: Keep a weather diary for a week. Each day, write down the temperature and whether you can see your breath outside. Can you notice any patterns? On which days is your breath more visible? Talk with your family or friends about why you think this happens. How does the temperature affect what you see?
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, it’s Jay! When it gets really cold outside, a lot can happen. Soap bubbles can freeze, and boiling water can instantly turn into snow. Someone named Avery is curious about another thing that can happen when it’s cold. Let’s give Avery a call now.
Hi, Avery! I got a question for you: Why do we see our breath in the cold? That’s a great question! Have you ever stepped outside in the cold, taken a deep breath, and noticed this? It almost looks like smoke is coming out of your mouth. But why does your breath look like that? Believe it or not, the answer has everything to do with water.
There’s water everywhere, but you may not always notice it. When people think of water, they usually think of its liquid form—the kind you drink or swim in. But liquid water can change!
Now, I’m curious: What are some of the different forms of water you’ve seen? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, ready? Some of you may have said that water can change into something that looks like ice when it gets really cold. In the winter, entire lakes, parts of the ocean, and even waterfalls can turn into solid ice. And when it gets warmer, the solid ice turns back into liquid, and you can go swimming again.
These changes in water mostly depend on temperature. Water can change from a liquid to a solid when it gets cold, and then it can change back into a liquid when it gets warm, like ice when it melts.
But when liquid water is warm enough, another change can happen. Watch what happens when this puddle is warmed up by the sun. It almost looks like the puddle is disappearing, doesn’t it? That water isn’t gone; it just changed into another form called a gas. Though you can’t see it, this invisible gas form of water is in the air all around us. Whenever water is warm enough, it can turn from a liquid we can touch into a gas that floats out into the air.
This change can happen anywhere, even in our bodies. There’s a lot of water in our bodies, and they are pretty warm. Just like how warmer temperatures can make the water from a puddle turn into a gas, the warmth of our bodies heats the water inside us, and we can breathe some of it out as a gas.
Usually, we can’t see the water in our breath because it’s a gas, so it’s invisible. But what if you’re standing outside on a cold day? The air coming out of your mouth looks like smoke, but it isn’t. To figure out what it is, you can try breathing onto a cold window or a glass of ice water. See that fog on the glass? It’s water! When the water in our breath goes onto something cold, it turns from an invisible gas back to a liquid.
The same thing happens in cold air. When the water in our breath goes out into the cold air, the cold makes the water turn from an invisible gas back into tiny drops of liquid that we can see. The water droplets are so small that they float around in the air, and that’s why we see our breath in the cold. It’s water turning from a gas back into a liquid.
So, to summarize, there are three common forms or states of water: solid, liquid, and gas. Temperature can change water into those different states. Water can change from a liquid to solid ice when it’s cold, it can change from solid ice back into a liquid when it gets warm, and it can even change into an invisible gas when it gets warmer, like the invisible water in our breath. But when it’s cold enough outside, that invisible gas in our breath turns back into tiny drops of liquid that we can see floating in the air, and that’s why we can see our breath when it’s cold.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks for asking it, Avery! We’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, here are some older questions from the question jar that you can vote on for next week: How is money made? How do broken bones heal? Or can animals really predict the weather? So submit your vote when the video’s over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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This version maintains the original content while removing any informal language or unnecessary filler.
