The water cycle has no starting point. But, we'll begin in the oceans , since that is where most of Earth's water exists. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air.
What is the water cycle in order?
There are four main stages in the water cycle. They are evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection .
Where does precipitation happen?
Precipitation forms in the clouds when water vapor condenses into bigger and bigger droplets of water. When the drops are heavy enough, they fall to the Earth. If a cloud is colder, like it would be at higher altitudes, the water droplets may freeze to form ice.
What are the 7 steps in the water cycle?
It can be studied by starting at any of the following processes: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, interception, infiltration, percolation, transpiration, runoff, and storage . Evaporation occurs when the physical state of water is changed from a liquid state to a gaseous state.
What is the first step in the water cycle?
The first step of the water cycle is evaporation . About 85% of the water vapor in the air comes from water that evaporated from the oceans. The other 15% comes from evapotranspiration, which is a catch-all term for water that evaporates from over land.
What are the 5 steps of the water cycle?
Student Features. Many processes work together to keep Earth's water moving in a cycle. There are five processes at work in the hydrologic cycle: condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration . These occur simultaneously and, except for precipitation, continuously.
What are the 6 steps in the water cycle?
- Step 1: Evaporation. The water cycle begins with evaporation. ...
- Step 2: Condensation. As water vaporizes into water vapor, it rises up in the atmosphere. ...
- Step 3: Sublimation. ...
- Step 4: Precipitation. ...
- Step 5: Transpiration. ...
- Step 6: Runoff. ...
- Step 7: Infiltration.
How do clouds form in the water cycle?
Clouds form when the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals . For this to happen, the parcel of air must be saturated, i.e. unable to hold all the water it contains in vapor form, so it starts to condense into a liquid or solid form.
How is rain formed?
How do clouds get water?
Clouds are created when water vapor, an invisible gas, turns into liquid water droplets . These water droplets form on tiny particles, like dust, that are floating in the air. You hang up a wet towel and, when you come back, it's dry.
What are the 4 main processes of the water cycle?
So how can we understand this magical process called the water cycle? There are four main parts to the water cycle: Evaporation, Convection, Precipitation and Collection .
What is water cycle for kids?
The water cycle is the path that all water follows as it moves around Earth in different states . Liquid water is found in oceans, rivers, lakes—and even underground. Solid ice is found in glaciers, snow, and at the North and South Poles. Water vapor—a gas—is found in Earth's atmosphere.
What is water cycle in geography?
The water cycle describes how water is exchanged (cycled) through Earth's land, ocean, and atmosphere . Water always exists in all three places, and in many forms—as lakes and rivers, glaciers and ice sheets, oceans and seas, underground aquifers, and vapor in the air and clouds.
What is the 2 step in the water cycle?
The second step of the water cycle is condensation . Now that the atmosphere is full of water vapor, that water vapor condenses into water droplets.
What are the three main phases of water cycle?
The three phases are solid (ice or snow), liquid (water), and gas (water vapor) .
When was the water cycle discovered?
The first published thinker to assert that rainfall alone was sufficient for the maintenance of rivers was Bernard Palissy ( 1580 CE ), who is often credited as the “discoverer” of the modern theory of the water cycle.
What are the 4 types of precipitation?
- Rain. Most commonly observed, drops larger than drizzle (0.02 inch / 0.5 mm or more) are considered rain. ...
- Drizzle. Fairly uniform precipitation composed exclusively of fine drops very close together. ...
- Ice Pellets (Sleet) ...
- Hail. ...
- Small Hail (Snow Pellets) ...
- Snow. ...
- Snow Grains. ...
- Ice Crystals.
What is another name for water cycle?
Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle , describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth.
Why are clouds white?
Clouds are white because light from the Sun is white . As light passes through a cloud, it interacts with the water droplets, which are much bigger than the atmospheric particles that exist in the sky.
Where does the energy that powers the water cycle come from?
The sun is what makes the water cycle work. The sun provides what almost everything on Earth needs to go—energy, or heat.
