Question

What causes water to evaporate, and why is evaporation important
to the water cycle?

Answer 1

The process of a liquid turning into a gas is evaporation. It is how water gets from the surface of the Earth to the atmosphere. Temperature, surface area, wind speed, and humidity influence liquids' evaporation rate. There would be no rain if evaporation did not occur. As a result, the majority of plants will dry up. When water vapor condenses during the formation of clouds, energy releases into the atmosphere through latent heating.

Answer 2

Evaporation occurs when energy (heat) forces the bonds that hold water molecules together to break.
Evaporation is important to the water cycle because it allows large amounts of water to move from the land to the atmosphere to carry on the other processes of the water cycle