The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle is a process that water goes through between land, sea and atmosphere. The water will continually change state throughout this cycle, the three changes of state are liquid, gas and a solid. The water is always getting recycled throughout this process as it keeps getting reused as it goes around the cycle continually. The four steps in the water cycle include: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and groundwater/runoff.

Evaporation

One of the steps in the water cycle is evaporation; evaporation is when the sun heats up the oceans and the ocean gets so hot that it evaporates and turns into a gas, this gas is called water vapour. Evaporation is an invisible process which changes liquid into a gas (also known as water vapour). Once this has happened the sun draws the water vapour up to the sky and then becomes a cloud (condensation). On hot days the chance of evaporation is greater as the sun is brighter and has a better chance of breaking the water molecules up which then evaporates. Water vapour is also known as humidity. In warm places there is a lot of humidity as the chance of heating the water is greater. The step after evaporation is condensation as once the water has evaporated it turns into a cloud, this cloud is called condensation.

Condensation/Precipitation

Condensation/precipitation is when water vapour forms into a cloud and then falls in many different ways and becomes part of runoff. Once the water has evaporated it floats up to the sky and then the gas forms a cloud, which is called condensation. Condensation happens because of the temperature. As warmer air contains a lot of water vapour whilst colder air contains less water vapour. Once a cloud has gathered as much water vapour as it can it has to release it somehow the cloud releases this gas by changing state the state that it changes to is a liquid. The cloud can release this water in four different ways! Rain, hail, snow and sleet. Once this water has fallen it all ends up in one place this place is called runoff.

Runoff/Groundwater

Runoff/Ground-water is when water runs off the land surface by going through rivers and ending up in lakes/oceans. This water is usually nothing more than water you use to drink. Most runoff flows downhill (due to gravity). This water will eventually come to an end by reaching a lake/ocean, and then goes through this process again. The water that doesn't go into runoff soaks into the ground and becomes part of our groundwater. There are two stages of groundwater, the first stage is water storage and the second stage is groundwater flow. Once the water has soaked into the ground it becomes part of water storage and then becomes part of groundwater flow this water will eventually flow out towards the lakes/oceans which will then go through this process again.

Overall there are four main steps of the water cycle. During the water cycle the water is continually recycled as it goes through each step of the cycle. There are three main states of the water during the water cycle; liquid, solid and a gas. The water cycle is very a very important and crucial process for the world's survival.