17.1 Steamed Up Mirror
1
It is thermodynamics,
And all the science that we knew,
From steam engines to refrigerators,
And the morning dew.
2
You see a gas will only hold,
A measure of a vapor,
This amount depends upon the gas,
And the temperature and pressure.
3
Since we are talking air and water here,
Let us focus in on that,
It is amazing that the world works,
On this extraordinary fact.
4
The colder the air is,
The less water it will hold,
That is where we get the phrase,
It’s too cold to snow.
5
And that is where dew comes from,
Or the steam upon a mirror,
Take warm air and cool it down,
And you have the beginning of a river.
6
The third factor is pressure,
Which is normally a given,
As we default to atmospheric,
At fourteen point seven.
7
But lower that pressure down a bit,
And watch the rain drops fall,
Take it down to zero,
And it will hold nothing at all.
8
This process goes on all around us.
And in power stations too,
In the steam on your mirror,
And spiders webs with dew.

This is a new poem from yesterday's prompt "Steamed up Mirror." Didn't get much action on the autobiographical version, so let's try a little science. So just tell me in the comments," By golly, I don't want to hear your life story, I want to hear about thermodynamics. "