We talk a lot about science here; how about a chance to do some science? If you have a real Christmas tree in your house, keep track of how much water you are putting into the stand. Then set out an equivalent volume of water in a bowl or cup or whatever. Making some allowance for initial replenishment of dehydration, all of the water you are putting into the tree stand is evaporating into the air. If it weren’t, the tree would be getting bigger. The water in the bowl is evaporating also, but most likely you’ll observe that the tree stand is losing water faster than the bowl. Trees are more efficient evaporators. In a sense, a tree is designed to optimize the flow of water from the ground into the atmosphere (among other things). Which is handy, since the tree needs water to flow back down from the atmosphere in the form of rain.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: H2O Christmas Tree