Introduction
Can you imagine your life without water? If your answer is no, then can you at least imagine a day without water? Still, your answer is no!! yeah because as soon as you wake up you start using water. Water is one of our basic needs. It is a necessity for human survival and civilization. Human existence is possible on earth as it has a large amount of water. If you observe a globe, you will find a large area that is blue in colour which indicates the presence of water there. About 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Even 70% of our body is made up of water. These facts clearly describe the importance of water for the existence of ecosystems. Basically, water exists in three forms on earth and its atmosphere. Those three forms of water are as follows –
Water in Solid Form (Ice)
Water in Liquid Form (Rain)
Water in Vapor Form (Steam)
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In this article, we shall be discussing in detail the concepts of forms of water.
Water in Solid Form
On earth, water is found in solid form as ice caps, glaciers, snow, etc. a very small quantity of water is present in the form of solid water on earth. The solid form of water accounts for only approximately 2% of total water. Glaciers contain almost 68% of freshwater which makes them the main source of usable water. Although most of the glacial lakes are in very inhospitable regions.
Water in Liquid Form
A large portion of the total water on earth is present in liquid form. Oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, rain, and groundwater are the main source of the liquid form of water. Oceans contain 96.5% of the total liquid form of water. Water present in oceans and seas is very saline in nature. This is the reason it is not of much use for human beings. On average 1kg of seawater contains 34 grams of salts. Different lakes, rivers contain freshwater which we can use for drinking purposes. Freshwater is very unevenly distributed on earth. Fresh water in liquid form is present at 87% in lakes, 11% in swamps, and only 2% in rivers. Out of these, river water is highly valuable for human beings.
Water in Vapour Form
Water is present in vapour form in very small quantities. The main sources of vapour form of water are vapour present in the atmosphere, clouds, soil moisture, etc. water is present in vapour form mainly in the troposphere. The amount of vapour in air varies according to the temperature and density of the air. Thus, water is present in mainly three states – solid, liquid, and gas or vapour. All different forms of water or types of water such as tap water, mineral water, spring water, well water, etc. exist in either liquid, solid or gaseous form.
Water Cycle
The water cycle clearly explains the relationship between all three forms of water and the continuous movement of water on earth and its atmosphere. It is also known as the hydrological cycle. Mass of total amount of water remains almost constant on earth although the distribution of water in various sources of the earth depends upon the climate of different regions of the earth.
Learn more about the process water cycle from the below-mentioned diagram -
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Water present in oceans, seas, soil, rivers, lakes, and plants evaporates by the heat of the sun. Due to the lower temperature of the atmosphere of the earth water vapor condenses and forms water droplets. These water droplets get combined due to hydrogen bonding between water molecules and become heavier. Due to heavy water content in clouds precipitation occurs. Which results in rain or snow. Rainwater flows on earth and goes into seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, soil, etc. Plants use water for photosynthesis and transpiration takes place in them. Groundwater also gets replenished by rainwater.
This was brief about different forms of water and their interconnection through the water cycle. If you want to know the chemical aspect of water and its different forms then register yourself on Vedantu or download the Vedantu learning app for classes 6-10, IIT JEE, and NEET.
FAQs on Forms of Water
1. What is the distribution of availability of fresh water on the Earth?
The Earth is covered with 71% of water and 28% of landmass. However, not all the water available can be consumed as 96.54 % are oceans, bays, and seas which are unfit for consumption. Given below is the segregation of freshwater in descending order-
Icecaps, glaciers constitute 1.74% of water which is 68.7% of total freshwater
Groundwater constitutes 1.69 % of total water
Lakes constitute 0.013 % of total freshwater
The atmosphere has 0.001 %
Rivers have only 0.0002 % of total water.
2. Can precipitation take place other than in the liquid form?
Precipitation is the downpour of water when the clouds are no longer able to hold the moisture against the Earth’s gravity. When the precipitation is in liquid form, we call it rainfall. In India majority of precipitation is in this form only. However, there are other forms of precipitation as well, when the temperature is below freezing point then it takes the form of snow which is in solid-state. Hails, sleets are a few other solid forms of precipitation.
So, yes we can say that precipitation takes place in forms other than liquid.
3. What does it mean by sublimation point?
Sublimation is a point where the translation of solid is directly done into gaseous form skipping the liquid stage. The process is referred to as an Endothermic process as it required additional energy to change its form.
One of the most common examples is the vapourization of dry ice which is the frozen carbon dioxide in normal temperature and pressure.
4. Does water get heated by conduction or convection current?
It is the process of convection that heats up the water. As the process of conduction heats the pot is placed on the flame. Once the pot is heated up due to the conduction current, the water molecules start to get heated up too. The warm molecules of the water once heated move away from the base of the pot and are replaced by the cooler water. This process is called the convection current which causes the water to boil.
5. What are the uses of solid-state water?
We all know the uses of water when in a liquid state as we use it in our everyday life from washing, cooking to drinking. However, there are significant uses of water in solid-state as well - they are used for storage of perishable products like fruits, meat, fish, etc in warehouses. They are used by many industries like pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing industries, fisheries, agriculture, cosmetics, etc. Water in every form has its own essential benefits. Read the full article and know about different forms of water.