GCSE Chemistry Unit 3 Revision (7)

Water

• The Water Cycle means water is continuously recycled.
• 1) The Sun causes evaporation of water from the sea, and this water vapour is carried upwards as the warm air rises.
• 2) As the water vapour rises, it cools - due to the general cooling of the lower part of the atmosphere at higher temperatures. This fall in temperature means the water condenses to form clouds.
• 3) When the condensed droplets get too big, they fall as rain.
• 4) Then the water runs back to the sea. However it gets back to the sea, at some stage it's going to come into contact with the rocks on (or underneath) the ground - meaning that water in different places will dissolve different minerals.
• 5) The cycle starts all over again.
• Water's a solvent - it dissolves many chemicals
• So many substances dissolve in water, that it is sometimes called…