Water Cycle Simulator
The same water has been circling Earth for billions of years. Raise the temperature to speed up evaporation, watch vapour rise and cool into clouds, and see rain return it to the sea.
Steady
More heat means more evaporation
How it works
Heat from the Sun gives water molecules enough energy to escape the surface as invisible vapour — evaporation.
Air cools as it rises. Cool air holds less vapour, so the water condenses onto dust specks and forms cloud droplets.
When droplets merge until they are too heavy for the rising air to hold, they fall as precipitation and the cycle starts again.
Fun facts
A single water molecule spends about nine days in the atmosphere before falling as rain.
About 97% of Earth's water is salty ocean water.
Clouds can weigh hundreds of tonnes and still float, because the droplets are tiny and spread out.
Plants release water vapour too, through a process called transpiration.
