The Water Cycle

Also called

water cycle · hydrological cycle · evaporation · condensation · precipitation · rain cycle · runoff · infiltration · groundwater · where does rain come from · how clouds form

Topics

• The same water moves between the sea, the air, clouds, land, rivers, soil and groundwater
• Sunlight gives the energy for evaporation; gravity brings rain down and makes water flow downhill
• Evaporation happens at the surface of water and does not need boiling
• Water vapour is an invisible gas; the rings are only markers for it
• Rising air cools; vapour condenses into tiny liquid droplets that make up clouds
• Droplets merge into drops heavy enough to fall as rain on land and sea
• On land, some water runs off along rivers to the sea and some soaks into the soil (infiltration) and down to groundwater
• Groundwater moves slowly and can return to the sea
• Water is not used up or made new; it keeps moving, by different routes and over very different times

About this model

A GLB file of about 1475 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Landscape, sea, cloud, sun, rain and arrows from the Lably AR water-cycle model. Vapour markers, droplets, cloud puffs, close-up inset, water markers and animation made for Lably. | Base landscape: Lably procedural teaching model (user project asset). All new geometry and the animation: original for Lably.

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