Question

Students are curious about what happens to precipitation as it falls to Earth. They model a rain storm occurring on the side of a hill using a stream table. After pouring 500 mL of water onto the stream table and collecting the water runoff in a bucket, they measure 400 mL of runoff in the bucket. What conclusion is best supported by the experiment?
Select one:

Most precipitation that falls to Earth is water in the form of a liquid.

Some precipitation that falls to Earth is absorbed into the soil.

All precipitation that falls to Earth flows back into the oceans.

Modeling rainstorms using a water table has no limitations.

Answer 1

Answer:

  Some precipitation that falls to Earth is absorbed into the soil.

Step-by-step explanation:

The amount of runoff is slightly less than the amount of precipitation. The conclusion must be that some of the water did not run off--it was absorbed.

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The other offered statements cannot be supported by any part of the problem description.