What happens to water after falling to earth as precipitation quizlet?

What happens to water after falling to earth as precipitation quizlet?

Precipitation falls on the ground and infiltrates the ground surface to the groundwater system.

What happens in precipitation?

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. These ice crystals then fall to the Earth as snow, hail, or rain, depending on the temperature within the cloud and at the Earth’s surface.

What happens to a drop of water as it travels through the water cycle?

Water drops form in clouds, and the drops then return to the ocean or land as precipitation – let’s say this time, it’s snow. The snow will fall to the ground, and eventually melts back into a liquid and runs off into a lake or river, which flows back into the ocean, where it starts the process again.

What role does precipitation play in the water cycle?

Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain.

What happens after precipitation in the water cycle?

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.

What happens to precipitation after it falls?

Precipitation falls to the ground as snow and rain. It eventually evaporates and rises back into the atmosphere as a gas. In clouds, it turns back into liquid or solid water, and it falls to Earth again. People rely on precipitation for fresh water to drink, bathe, and irrigate crops for food.

What is the relationship between precipitation and the water cycle?

Precipitation and the Water Cycle. Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth.

What happens first condensation or precipitation?

Lesson Summary This is followed by condensation, which is the process by which water vapor is changed back into liquid water. Then, water becomes precipitation, which is water falling from the clouds as rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. What happens to precipitation once it hits the ground?

What happens to water in the sky when it evaporates?

Water is continually evaporating and condensing in the sky. If you look closely at a cloud you can see some parts disappearing (evaporating) while other parts are growing (condensation). Most of the condensed water in clouds does not fall as precipitation because their fall speed is not large enough to overcome updrafts which support the clouds.