water cycle -Environmental Chemistry

Water plays a significant role in sustaining life and nature on planet Earth. The water on the earth is always in some sort of movement in the form of a cycle which is known as the 'Water cycle‘

The four main stages of the water Cycle is

 i.Evaporation

ii Condensation

iii Precipitation 

iv Collection (Stream flow, infiltration)

(i) Evaporation: When the sun shines, the water from the ocean or lake evaporates due to heat releases from the sun. When water evaporates, it turns into water vapor and goes up into the atmosphere.

* Transpiration takes place by plants. In this process, excess of water turns into vapour through tree leaves into atmosphere.

(ii)  Condensation

This water vapour gets together with other water vapour and turns into a cloud.

(iii) Precipitation:

When clouds get dense, they drop water back to earth in the form of precipitation like rain, snow, hails.

(iv) Collection:

When water falls back down to the earth, it finds its way on the ground surface into puddles, streams and rivers. Most will infiltrate (soak into) the ground and will collect as underground water. Again this water will evaporate, and the whole cycle will start again. The water cycle is powered by the sun's energy and by gravity. This cycle keeps the atmosphere of earth cool.