The water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection

See that puddle on the driveway? The sun comes out, it starts to shrink, and clouds drift overhead. The water didn't just vanish—where does it go, and why does it keep coming back as rain? Think of it as a relay race: water is the baton, passed from the ground, to the air, to the sky.

Follow one drop of water, and it runs the same lap every time. Evaporation: the sun warms lakes, rivers, and oceans, and water rises as vapor. Condensation: that vapor cools high in the sky and forms clouds. Precipitation: clouds release rain or snow.

Collection: water runs over the ground and soaks in, refilling lakes, rivers, and oceans. Then the loop begins again. Every drop of water runs this same lap. Watch one drop of water make the whole trip.

The Sun pours energy into a puddle, and the drop starts to stir. Some molecules break free and rise as invisible water vapor. That is evaporation. Higher up, the air is colder.

The vapor slows, finds tiny dust specks, and gathers into cloud droplets. That is condensation. The droplets bump together and grow, heavier and heavier, until the air cannot hold them. Down they fall as rain — or snow, if the air is freezing.

That is precipitation. On the ground, the water is collected. Some soaks into the soil; the rest runs into streams, rivers, lakes, and the ocean. And there, warmed by the Sun, it is ready to evaporate again.

Around and around it goes — water is the baton, passed from puddle to cloud to raindrop to river, and back to the start. The sun drives the water cycle, but the water itself is never lost—it only changes place and form. Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection. Watch the kettle's lid.

As the water boils, steam rises — that's evaporation. The steam reaches the cold lid and clings as tiny droplets: condensation. When the droplets grow heavy, they fall back into the water below, a mini version of precipitation and collection. And just like that, the cycle starts again.

This kettle runs the same relay as the sky, just in miniature. Morning rain leaves puddles on the playground. By afternoon they're gone—evaporation. The invisible vapor rises and cools, condensing into a cloud—condensation.

The cloud drifts, and later drops rain somewhere else—precipitation. That rain runs into a storm drain, reaches a river, then flows to the ocean—collection. The puddle didn't disappear; it just moved on in the race. Follow the drop.

The sun heats a puddle, and evaporation lifts water into the air. High above, condensation turns vapor into clouds. Soon precipitation falls, and collection gathers the water back into puddles and streams. The sun is the engine, water is the baton, and the loop never ends.

Now you know where the puddle went. Water keeps moving; the cycle never stops.