Why does it rain?
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Transcript
Why does water fall from the sky as rain?
The sun warms water in lakes, rivers, and oceans. Some water goes up into the air.
High in the sky, the water cools and makes clouds. Clouds are full of tiny water drops.
When the drops join and get too heavy, they fall down. That falling water is rain.
So that's why it rains! Water goes up, gathers in clouds, and falls back down.
For grown-ups: the science
Rain falls when tiny drops in clouds join together and become too heavy to stay up.
Sunlight provides energy that evaporates liquid water into water vapor. As moist air rises and cools, water vapor condenses onto tiny particles in the air to form cloud droplets. Droplets can collide and combine; when they become large enough, gravity pulls them down as rain.