Why are there clouds, and not just a general fog or haze in the sky?

Question

Think about it. Why does water vapor become individual clouds, and not just a general haze? Is there something about the water vapor that causes it to "stick together"?

Answer 1

Clouds can form in groups like cotton balls or in a flat layer like fog or haze. It all depends on how the airmass is cool to the point where it will condense.

Clouds can form due to warm air below and cool air above. Pockets of warm air will rise upward, while cool pockets of air from above will sink and replace the pockets of warm air. As this pocket of warm air rises, it will form a puffy cloud once the pocket cools enough for the gas in that pocket to start condensing into small water droplets.

A good example of this is type of circulation is by looking at a pot of water as it starts to boil. You will see bubbles of hotter liquid and gas bubble up in spots. Once the bubble lifts up, it is quickly replaced by relatively cooler water from above. You won't see a large layer of water and gas rise up from the bottom in one layer.

You will also see clouds in the layer form too. This is known as stratus clouds. This can occur when the whole layer is slowly cooled. Example would be the clouds forming over a large body of cold water under a strong high pressure system. The low level layer of air is cool by the water and loss of sunlight overnight. A layer of low clouds or fog will form. This layer of clouds will lift slightly higher and thickens as the layer continues to cool. The strong high pressure will "capped" or keep this layer from rising above a certain layer. The result will be a flat cloud layer in the sky like what you will find with ground fog or in a haze layer.

Answer 2

Yes, Dust particles.

Answer 3

Could it be because of the different preassures?