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What happens to precipitation during the water cycle?

What happens to precipitation during the water cycle?

Along with evaporation and condensation, precipitation is one of the three major parts of the global water cycle. 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.

What happens to water after precipitation?

After the precipitation reaches the surface of Earth, it does one of four things. It can either be absorbed by plants, percolate through the soil to become ground water, run off the surface into streams and rivers–becoming surface water and eventually flowing into the oceans, or evaporate.

Which process returns water to the water cycle?

When molecules of water vapor return to liquid or solid form, they create cloud droplets that can fall back to Earth as rain or snow—a process called condensation. Water vapor rises into the atmosphere, where it condenses, forming clouds. It then falls back to the ground as precipitation.

What are the two primary ways that precipitation passes through the water cycle?

a. What are the two primary ways in which water that falls to Earth as precipitation passes through the water cycle? Rain and snow.

What is the precipitation of the water cycle?

Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km 3 (121,000 mi 3) of water falls as precipitation each year, 398,000 km 3 (95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans.

What is the Order of the water cycle?

Steps of the Water Cycle Evaporation. The first water cycle step starts with the atmosphere pulling water out of the big bodies of water. Condensation. Next up in the water cycle steps is condensation. Sublimation. Here is one of the additional and smaller steps I mentioned before. Precipitation. Transpiration. Run Off. Infiltration.

How does precipitation work in chemistry?

Precipitation (chemistry) Precipitation is the formation of a solid in a solution during a chemical reaction. When the chemical reaction occurs the solid formed is called the precipitate. Precipitation reactions can be used for making pigments, removing salts from water in water treatment, and for qualitative chemical analysis.

What is condensation precipitation?

condensation:transition from vapor phase to liquid phase. precipitation: deposition of liquid water droplets and ice particles that are formed in the atmosphere and grow to a sufficient size so that they are returned to the Earth’s surface by gravitational settling.