MS-ESS2-4 Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun

and the force of gravity.

Guiding Questions

What processes make up the water cycle?

How does energy drive the processes of the water cycle?

How does the water cycle affect weather?

Vocabulary

water cycle

evaporation

condensation

dew point

humidity

relative humidity

precipitation

Water Enters the Atmosphere

During a humid day, the air around you may feel moist and thick. On a clear, cloudless day, the air may feel dry. The
difference between these feelings is caused by the amount of water in the air. Water is always moving between the
surface of Earth and the atmosphere. This process is known as the water cycle. A cycle is any series of events that
repeat in the same order over and over again.

In one phase of the water cycle, water vapor enters the atmosphere through a number of processes. One of these
processes is evaporation. During evaporation, molecules of liquid water in oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water
are heated by the sun. The energy of the sun causes the water molecules to speed up and collide more often. As the
molecules collide, some of them “escape” and enter the surrounding air.

The stream in Figure 1 is not the only source of water for the atmosphere. Plants and animals also release water
vapor into the air. In plants, water enters through the roots, rises to the leaves, and is released into the air as water
vapor. This is known as transpiration. Animals (and people!) release water vapor into the air every time they breathe
out, or exhale. This is known as respiration.

Condensation Recall that water vapor is a gas mixed in with the rest of the air. Condensation occurs when water
vapor changes into liquid water.

For condensation to occur, tiny particles must be present in the atmosphere so that the water has a surface on which
to condense. Most of these particles are salt crystals, dust from soil, bacteria, or particles contained in smoke. During
condensation, molecules of water vapor mix with these particles.
Temperature is also a major factor in condensation. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air can.
Therefore, as warm air cools, the amount of water vapor it can hold decreases, and the water vapor starts to
condense. Liquid water that condenses from the air onto a cooler surface is called dew. The temperature at which
condensation begins is called the dew point. If the dew point is above freezing, the water vapor forms droplets. If the
dew point is below freezing, the water vapor may change directly into ice crystals called frost.

One result of condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere is cloud formation. Clouds form when water vapor in
the air condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals. When you look at a cloud, such as the one in Figure 2, you are
seeing millions of these tiny water droplets or ice crystals. When water vapor condenses near ground level, it can
take the form of fog. Water can condense as dew on any solid surface, such as a blade of grass or a window pane.

Relative Humidity Meteorologists often warn of high or low humidity during their weather forecasts. Humidity is a
measure of the amount of water vapor in the air.

The ability of air to hold water vapor depends on temperature. Warm air can hold more water than cool air. So, in
their weather reports, meteorologists usually refer to the amount of water vapor in the air as relative humidity.

Relative humidity is the percent of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor the air
can hold at a particular temperature. For example, suppose that 1 cubic meter of air can hold no more than 8 grams
of water vapor at 10°C. If there are 8 grams of water vapor in the air, then the relative humidity is 100 percent and
the air would be said to be saturated. Similarly, the relative humidity would be 50 percent if the air had only 4 grams
of water vapor per cubic meter.

Relative humidity is a better reflection of how the air feels than humidity. For example, air that holds 4 grams of
water vapor per cubic meter can feel moist on a cold day or dry on a hot day. Relative humidity reflects this feeling. It
would be near 100 percent on a cold day, and much lower on a hot day.

Relative humidity can be measured using a psychrometer. It is a device made up of two thermometers, a wet-bulb
thermometer and a dry-bulb thermometer. As shown in Figure 3, a small piece of moist cloth covers the wet bulb.
When the psychrometer is “slung,” or spun around, air flows over both thermometers. The wet-bulb thermometer is
cooled by evaporation, causing its temperature reading to fall. If the relative humidity is high, evaporation occurs
slowly and the wet-bulb temperature does not change much. If the relative humidity is low, evaporation occurs
rapidly and the wet-bulb temperature drops by a large amount. Relative humidity is measured by comparing the
temperatures of the two bulbs.

Water Leaves the Atmosphere

Water is continually evaporating and condensing in the atmosphere, and this process forms clouds. When enough
condensation occurs within a cloud, water droplets form. At first, the droplets are very small, but they grow larger as
condensation continues. Depending on temperature and other conditions in the atmosphere, the droplets may grow
heavy enough that gravity pulls them down toward Earth’s surface. When this happens, precipitation occurs.
Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface.

Types of Precipitation The most common kind of precipitation is rain. Rain comes in various forms depending on the
size of the water droplets that form, as seen in Figure 4. Rain starts out as cloud droplets. When cloud droplets grow
a bit bigger, they become mist. When droplets reach a size of 0.05 to 0.5 millimeters in diameter, they are known as
drizzle. Drops of water are called rain when they are larger than 0.5 millimeters in diameter.
ypes of Precipitation (cont.)

Temperature is a very important factor in determining the type of precipitation an area may get at any given time. In
warm climates, precipitation is almost always rain. However, there are many other types of precipitation. In colder
regions, precipitation often falls as snow or ice. Besides rain, common types of precipitation include sleet, freezing
rain, snow, and hail, as shown in Figure 5.

Measuring Precipitation If a town receives a large snowfall, meteorologists need to track how much snow fell to
determine how safe it is to travel. Similarly, if a big storm delivers a lot of rain, people would need to know how much
rain fell to determine whether flooding might occur.

Rain can be measured by using a rain gauge, which is an open-ended tube that collects rain. The amount of rain is
measured either by dipping a ruler into the water in the tube or by reading a scale printed on the tube. Snowfall is
usually measured in two ways: by using a simple measuring stick or by melting collected snow and measuring the
depth of water it produces. On average, 10 centimeters of snow contain about the same amount of water as 1
centimeter of rain. However, light, fluffy snow contains far less water than heavy, wet snow does.

The Water Cycle

The water cycle describes the way that water moves through Earth’s systems and affects our lives in many ways. As
the sun heats the land, ocean, lakes, and other bodies of water, its energy changes the amount of water in the
atmosphere. Through evaporation, transpiration, and respiration, water rises up and forms clouds. Rain, snow, and
other forms of precipitation fall from the clouds toward Earth’s surface. The water then runs off the surface or moves
through the ground, back into lakes, streams, and eventually the ocean. As seen in Figure 6, gravity and energy from
the sun together drive water molecules through this never-ending cycle.