How does the Water Cycle work?

​The Water Cycle

The water cycle is driven by the energy from the sun.

The Heat energy from the sun warms up the water in oceans, rivers, lakes and ponds. The water particles gain energy and become more active. Those particles which gain lots of energy now can escape and rise up the atmosphere. They do this because they are less dense then the air. This is known as evaporation.

As they rise up, they lose their energy to the surrounding, as it is cold up there. The water particles begin to huddle together into tiny water droplets to make clouds. This is known as condensation. Eventually the water droplets become so big that the gravity pulls them down and it rains. This is called precipitation.

How the Water Cycle works image courtesy of science-resources.co.uk

Tags: animated water cycle, water cycle animation