Which combination of processes drives the water cycle?

• A. Evaporation, Condensation, Freezing, and Runoff.
• B. Condensation, Precipitation, Evaporation, and Infiltration.
• C. Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, and Collection/Runoff.
• D. Evaporation, Precipitation, Condensation, and Transpiration.

Answer: (C)

Sun energy drives the movement of water through the cycle by lifting liquid water into the air (evaporation). Once in the air, the water vapor cools and gathers into droplets (condensation), forming clouds. When clouds release moisture, it returns to Earth as rain, snow, or other forms of precipitation. Water then travels across the land or into bodies of water (collection or runoff), returning to oceans, lakes, and rivers where the cycle can start again. This sequence of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection/runoff is the main loop that continually circulates water. Other processes like freezing, infiltration, or plant transpiration occur in the cycle but do not by themselves drive the primary looping motion; freezing stores water as ice, infiltration moves water into the soil and groundwater, and transpiration is part of evaporation but is not a separate driving step in the typical cycle.