The water cycle is process that water goes through between land, sea and the atmosphere. The water is recycled throughout the the process. The water changes state throughout the process liquid, gas and solid. The steps in the water cycle are, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, groundwater and accumulation.
One of the steps is evaporation and it aceers when the sun heats up and the water in the ocean, lakes and rivers turn into gas also known as vapour. It is an invisible process that changes frozen water and liquids into vapour. In warmer places or hotter days evaporation is greater. Vapour in the air is called humidity. After the water turns into a gas it floats up to the sky and forms into a cloud which is called condensation.
After evaporation is condensation, then precipitation and it happens when the clouds get too heavy it rains. Condensation happens because of the temperature changes and when it is warmer more water vapour and cold less. Some of the water vapour in the cold air high in the sky just cannot stay as a gas, and condenses into liquid water droplets. The amount of precipitation that falls every year is different all around the world, in deserts it may only one inch per year while on mountains it could rain more than 600 inches per year. After precipitation the water goes into the ground and is called runoff and groundwater.
Next runoff is nothing but water running off the surface and groundwater is nothing but water under the ground. Even though some rainfall soaks into the ground, most of it flows over the lands surface. Runoff is where the water goes on the ground or under to go into the rivers lakes and the ocean. Water below your feet is moving all the time, water underground moves due to gravity, downwards and sideways.
Overall you need these five steps evaporation, condensation, precipitation, groundwater and runoff. The water is recycled so if some of the steps didn't happen like precipitation we might not be alive right now.
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