Where is condensation in the water cycle

The water cycle describes how water is exchanged cycled through Earth's land, ocean, and atmosphere. The water cycle is the endless process that connects all of the water on Earth. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

Skip to content. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. From the outside in: condensation, can, cola. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Last Updated Jan. Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer.

Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. The Water Cycle. View Collection. View Article. Hence it is quite important to understand and learn the processes of the water cycle.

The full cycle forms an endless loop, but let's start the whole process at the ocean. The water cycle begins with evaporation. It is a process where water at the surface turns into water vapors. Water absorbs heat energy from the sun and turns into vapors. Water bodies like the oceans, the seas, the lakes and the river bodies are the main source of evaporation.

Through evaporation, water moves from hydrosphere to atmosphere. As water evaporates it reduces the temperature of the bodies. As water vaporizes into water vapor, it rises up in the atmosphere. This process is called condensation. These particles come close together and form clouds and fogs in the sky. Apart from evaporation, sublimation also contributes to water vapors in the air. Sublimation is a process where ice directly converts into water vapors without converting into liquid water.

This phenomenon accelerates when the temperature is low or pressure is high. Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water. Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of clouds. These clouds may produce precipitation , which is the primary route for water to return to the Earth's surface within the water cycle.

Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. You don't have to look at something as far away as a cloud to notice condensation, though. Condensation is responsible for ground-level fog, for your glasses fogging up when you go from a cold room to the outdoors on a hot, humid day, for the water that drips off the outside of your glass of iced tea, and for the water on the inside of the windows in your home on a cold day.

The phase change that accompanies water as it moves between its vapor, liquid, and solid form is exhibited in the arrangement of water molecules. Water molecules in the vapor form are arranged more randomly than in liquid water. As condensation occurs and liquid water forms from the vapor, the water molecules become more organized and heat is released into the atmosphere as a result. The little cloud that could—but why? Why is this tiny cloud the only one in the sky? Even though clouds are absent in a crystal clear blue sky, water is still present in the form of water vapor and droplets which are too small to be seen.

Depending on weather conditions, water molecules will combine with tiny particles of dust, salt, and smoke in the air to form cloud droplets, which combine and grow and develop into clouds, a form of water we can see. Cloud droplets can vary greatly in size, from 10 microns millionths of a meter to 1 millimeter mm , and even as large as 5 mm.

This process occurs higher in the sky where the air is cooler and more condensation occurs relative to evaporation. As water droplets combine also known as coalescence with each other, and grow in size, clouds not only develop, but precipitation may also occur. Precipitation is essentially water in its liquid or solid form falling from the base of a cloud. This seems to happen too often during picnics or when large groups of people gather at swimming pools.

This picture shows cumulonimbus clouds over Africa photographed from the International Space Station. Tap the picture to get an in-depth explanation. The clouds formed by condensation are an intricate and critical component of Earth's environment. Clouds regulate the flow of radiant energy into and out of Earth's climate system.

They influence the Earth's climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation heat back to space and outgoing radiation terrestrial from the Earth's surface. Often at night, clouds act as a "blanket," keeping a portion of the day's heat next to the surface. Changing cloud patterns modify the Earth's energy balance, and, in turn, temperatures on the Earth's surface. As we said, clouds form in the atmosphere because air containing water vapor rises and cools.

The key to this process is that air near the Earth's surface is warmed by solar radiation. But, do you know why the atmosphere cools above the Earth's surface? Generally, air pressure, is the reason. The pressure weight , called barometric pressure, that results is a consequence of the density of the air above. At higher altitudes, there is less air above, and, thus, less air pressure pressing down. The barometric pressure is lower, and lower barometric pressure is associated with fewer molecules per unit volume.

Therefore, the air at higher altitudes is less dense. As the total heat content of a system is directly related to the amount of matter present, it is cooler at higher elevation The water cycle is the path that all water follows as it moves around our planet. On Earth, you can find water in all three states of matter: solid , liquid and gas. Solid ice is found in glaciers , snow, and at the North and South Poles. How does water travel from a glacier to the ocean to a cloud?

This water goes into oceans, lakes and streams. Water from melting snow and ice also goes into the soil.