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Old 26th Aug 2008, 19:55
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chornedsnorkack
 
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Wet adiabat and speed of sound in cloud

Clouds have much lower adiabatic gradient than dry or moist air that contains free water. This is because free water absorbs latent heat of evaporation on adiabatic compression.

The speed of sound is determined by adiabatic compressibility. Newton got the speed of sound about 20 % too slow because he tried to compute it from isothermal compressibility.

Shouldn´t the speed of sound then be far slower in clouds than in clear air?
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