What is the path that one rain drop would take through the water cycle?

1 Answer
Sep 22, 2016

Simply, it would;
Condense and rain, then evaporate into a gas and rise into the clouds again.

Explanation:

In fact it would;

Rain and fall to the ground
Flow downhill (perhaps as part of a stream or river, perhaps underground)
Reach a larger collection of water (a lake, the sea, an ocean or a puddle)
Then evaporate and become water vapour which can become a cloud.

There are other options, the water could;

#># Get trapped in an underground water source (for example a cave lake) which is too cool to evaporate

#># Be collected by humans, drunk, excreted via sweat or urine where it would rejoin the main system

#># Condense before becoming a cloud on a cool surface (for example a car window during a British winter)