Abstract

A system can be defined as a process that repeats itself. For this showcased paper, students were tasked to choose an object, mechanism or process that they will attempt to fully explain to an audience that is presumed to have no background knowledge on the matter. The evidence and images we decide to incorporate in this paper did not have to be drawn from the City College Database. It is important to know how to write a technical description because good scientists have to be specific with the steps in regard to experiments or processes. For my technical description, I wrote about the water cycle, which is how water is able to circulate the Earth. Below you will find how I effectively explained this cycle in both a microscopic and macroscopic point of view.  

 

How the Water Cycle puts Water on our Table

         One of the components for life to thrive on Earth is water. The Earth, in general, has various characteristics that may prove curious to most people. For a long time, scientists have been studying the Earth and more specifically how things occur. Among these studies exists one that explains the process of how we experience rain. According to countless studies, rain is the result of the water cycle. The water cycle is a description of how water circulates the Earth throughout our ocean, atmosphere, and land. In short, It is a never-ending cycle that uses specific terminology to describe each process. Being able to understand this cycle is important because it answers the following question – How has the Earth been able to preserve its water for billions of years? Turns out the answer is recycling. Although rain can demonstrate to be destructive at times, it is still an essential part for life on Earth to thrive. In other words, we do not have to like it, nevertheless, it is still beneficial for us to be aware of its existence in order to be better prepared to deal with such catastrophes.

         Like any cycle, there is a beginning. Evaporation is the first process of the water cycle. During this process, water undergoes a physical change. To understand evaporation more efficiently, we first must grasp the concept of atoms. Atoms are the smallest particle of an element. When water evaporates its atoms rearrange themselves from that of a liquid state to a gas state. This is characterized as a physical change because the atoms did produce anything new, instead, they simply rearranged their composition. Atoms are arranged differently in solids, liquids, and gases. In figure 1.2, we can see that the atoms of a solid are more compressed; hardly able to move. In a liquid state, the atoms are not as compressed and are able to move a bit. In a gas, atoms have the most space between one another and can move at high speeds. Relating back to the water cycle, evaporation is when water goes from its liquid state to its gas state, or when water evaporates to form water vapor, usually by an increase in temperature and other factors. This water typically comes from oceans, seas, lakes and other bodies of water which provides 90% of the moisture in our atmosphere. The remaining 10% comes from plants through the process of transpiration. Transpiration happens when the water plants absorbed get released to the atmosphere through the small pores underneath their leaves (A Multi-Phased Journey). Once the water evaporates it goes up into the atmosphere where it awaits its next process. Figure 1.1 illustrates the water cycle with arrows to guide its process. The first process being “Evaporation from Oceans Lakes & Streams” which we just explained, following “Transpiration from Plants,” which as mentioned before is basically evaporation from plants. This process is essential to understand in order to comprehend what comes next.

         Once the water, still in its gas state, reaches the right altitude in the atmosphere, water then condenses back to its liquid state because of a vast decrease in temperature. This next process is called “Condensation,” as stated in figure 1.1. During this process, clouds are formed by hot air rising to the atmosphere and joining together with water vapor atoms to sustain these water droplets that have been condensed. As time passes the water droplets begin to grow inside the clouds. Depending on the weather conditions, the wind can change the course of direction in which the cloud will be releasing the water droplets. The water droplets are also highly affected by drastic temperature changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. The melting point of water is 32℉. If the temperature goes below that, then the water droplets can potentially freeze; thereby forming hail. There are a variety of things water can take the form of when in its condensation stage. At a molecular level, when water goes from its liquid phase to its solid phase the atoms once again rearrange themselves. Atoms, in its liquid phase, can move past one another at ease. However, as it changes states to form a solid, the atoms begin losing that ability and are fixed in one location; unable to move due to the lack of thermal energy. Condensation is an essential part of the water cycle, but its main purposes arguably are changing the state of matter of water and being able to transport water to various parts of the world. 

         After condensation occurs, the next part of the water cycle can take place assuming the right conditions are met. When the water droplets have acquired the right weight, they fall to the Earth’s crust as shown in figure 1.1. This occurrence is what is known as precipitation. In chemistry, the word precipitation is interpreted as the creation of a solid from a solution. When used to describe the water cycle, it is the process of when water droplets fall to the ground. Remember that precipitation can take the form of many different things besides rain. For example, we mentioned that when water goes below its melting point it turns to hail. But, there are other forms of precipitation such as snow, sleet and freezing rain that may occur depending on the climate. In continuation of this process, once the rain completely precipitates it separates into various routes. Some of the water droplets get absorbed by plants to produce nutrients for the plant to flourish, this route is called “Groundwater”. Other droplets runoff into rivers and streams. Looking back at figure 1.1, the image shows how water makes its way down the mountain into the stream and lake. Eventually, the water droplets will make its way to the ocean where it will repeat the cycle once again.

         The water cycle explains how water gets to various parts of our world. It is a never-ending cycle that recycles water for life on Earth to prosper. This cycle is no different from the rock cycle or food cycle in that it repeats itself endlessly. The water cycle is an important mechanism to understand because it explains how our world can exist. Without the water cycle, nothing on Earth would be living. It is because of this we are able to have conversations and share ideas. Nevertheless, we tend to take what is good for granted. Today, our Earth is polluted with factories and motor vehicles that release greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide (CO2), into our atmosphere. As these greenhouse gases rise into the atmosphere, they bond with water molecules and form acidic compounds that later precipitates to the Earth’s crust. These greenhouse gases contaminate our water supply and harm our Earth dramatically. As a result, many ecosystems have had negative impacts such as underwater creatures, plants, etc. The question we should be asking ourselves now is – How can we reduce the number of greenhouse gases that get released into our atmosphere? In understanding the water cycle we were able to draw new questions that will hopefully lead to innovative solutions to save our Earth from destruction.

 

Figure 1.1    (Precipitation Education).

Figure 1.2    (The Basics of Physics).

 

Works Cited

A Multi-Phased Journey. nasa.gov, October 2010, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Water/page2.php. Accessed 1 October 2019.

Precipitation Education. nasa.gov, pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle. Accessed 30 September 2019.

The Basics of Physics. scienceclub.org, March 2017, scienceclub.org/tag/states-of-matter/. Accessed 30 September 2019.