Water Cycle - Introduction

Introduction

Water is found not only in oceans, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, puddles, and similar places. It is also stored in the soil, in polar ice caps, and in underground areas called aquifers.Underground layer of sand, gravel, or spongy rock that collects water. Some water is actually in the air as water vapor.Water in its gaseous state. The water cycle,The constant movement of water molecules on Earth as they rise into the atmosphere as water vapor, condense into droplets and fall to land or bodies of water, evaporate, and rise again. sometimes called the hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, land, and bodies of water. Rainstorms are the major way that water gets from the atmosphere to Earth. Then the rain seeps into the soil or runs over land into streams, rivers, and oceans.

Over time, water evaporates from lakes, ponds, swamps, rivers, oceans, and even soil, changing from a liquid to a gas called water vapor. This water vapor rises into the atmosphere again, where it cools and condensesThe process by which a gas changes into a liquid. around dust or salt particles in the air, turning back into droplets of liquid. When the droplets get too heavy to remain in the air, they fall as precipitationWater in its liquid or frozen form when it falls from clouds in the atmosphere as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.: rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Water vapor is often invisible, but on a warm summer day, you can feel water vapor. The air often feels damp because it contains a lot of water vapor.