Jimmy N. Sanchez Environmental Science 8-31-12 The Life of Dihydrogen Monoxide My life starts out at the molecular level.

Many people over look and dont think much of me. What they dont know is that I am the most abundant compound on Earth, covering over 70% of the Earths surface. Without me, the chemical reactions that take place inside the cells of plants, animals, and humans could never take place. Without the interaction between the hydrosphere (all the water above and below Earths surface) and the biosphere (all of the living things above and below Earths surface) life on Earth would not be possible. I am one of the only elements of the periodic table that exist in all three stages of liquid, gas, and solid in an abundant quantity. I start out as one of the trillions and trillions of water droplets that make up small and large bodies of water like oceans, lakes, rivers, sounds, streams, water falls, creeks, and many others. I can exist in three forms: I can be in a solid state as a glacier in the northern hemisphere, I can also be in my liquid state which makes up large and small bodies of water, and can exist in my gaseous state of water vapor atop oceans on a cold morning. My life is simple at this point, because the cycle of my life hasnt yet begun. My life cycle is called the Water Cycle. The start of the cycle of my life could not at all be possible without some help from a big star in the sky. He is a start like many others in the galaxy but the humans on this planet in particular have a special liking for this star. They enjoy the rays of light it shines upon the surface of their planet. They call this star the Sun. Without the solar energy that the sun gives of, the first step in my cycle of life (evaporation) could

never take place. Evaporation is the vaporization of water. It happens when the surface of oceans and other bodies of water come into contact with energy from the sun (solar energy) which allows molecules from water to escape into a vapor. This vapor then released from the surface travels up earths atmosphere and forms clouds. Life as a cloud is wonderful. I am as light as a feather, I feel like I am on top of the world because quite literally I am. Where I go and what I see as a cloud isnt determined by me because I havent been given fins like a fish to propel myself through water like a fish does, nor do I have long and strong legs like those of a cheetah, I havent even mastered the art of bipedal locomotion because well I am not human. Not only that I dont have the limbs required for bipedal locomotion (walking), so the course of my travels is determined by wind. I go wherever the wind blows and decides to take me. It isnt what I would prefer, I would prefer to have a sense of autonomy but I am not complaining. My life as a cloud is curtailed when too much water has been evaporated and sadly I am no longer as light as a feather. This is when my long journey up Earths atmosphere is revered and it is now that I go down the way I came up onto Earths surface as either water or snow in a process called condensation. Condensation is the opposite of evaporation; it is the physical change of water in the state of a gas, into water in the physical state of a liquid. Coming down in this state of either water or snow is called precipitation, or in basic terms rain. It is at this stage in my cycle of life where everything becomes one big roller coaster. It is like this because I am coming down at a much higher rate than that of which I came up. When I come down in that form of rain I can come as a light drizzle when I feel rather poetic and doleful, or I can come down as a huge wild storm accompanied by my friend lightning and his comrade thunder when I am feeling quite exasperated.

It is after I have unleashed my Old Testament wrath that the next stage in my cycle of life takes place. This stage in my life has two routes of which it can take. After I have rained or precipitated on the surface of the earth it is possible that some of water will go into the geosphere or that it will become run off water. On the first route, water that has just reached Earth will infiltrate the outer layer of Earths crust and will eventually make it into rocks specially formed in the geosphere to hold underground water called aquifers. It is from underwater aquifers that high priced artesian waters like Fiji are from. On the second route water that hasnt infiltrated Earths surfaces turns into runoff water which either finds its way back to a body of water like a pond, lake, or stream , or is used by plants with the help of the sun to go through photosynthesis. At this stage in my life cycle, I am about complete one full cycle. The last step on my journey takes me inside of a plant. Plants use water and solar energy from the sun to create glucose. After they are done using the water in their systems they go through a process similar to evaporation called transpiration. Transpiration is simply the evaporation of water inside of a plant through holes on the surface of leaves called stomata. It is through the processes of evaporation and transpiration that water can then travel up the Earths atmosphere and thus begin the water cycle again. The life Dihydrogen Monoxide does have its ups and its downs but I wouldnt have it any other way. I may be molecular in size but my usefulness sure isnt!