Explain how the water cycle works step by step

The water cycle is a continuous process that describes how water moves through the environment. Here’s a step-by-step explanation:

1. Evaporation: Water from oceans, rivers, and lakes heats up and turns into water vapor, rising into the atmosphere.

2. Transpiration: Plants release water vapor into the air through their leaves, contributing to the moisture in the atmosphere.

3. Condensation: As water vapor rises, it cools and condenses into tiny droplets, forming clouds.

4. Precipitation: When the droplets in clouds combine and grow larger, they fall back to the Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

5. Collection: Water collects in bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and oceans, and also infiltrates the ground, replenishing groundwater supplies.

6. Runoff: Water flows over the surface of the land back into oceans and lakes, completing the cycle.

This cycle is essential for maintaining ecosystems and regulating climate.