The water then accumulates as runoff and eventually returns to bodies of water or is absorbed into the Earth (infiltration) and becomes part of the water table, an underground resevoir of fresh water.

During a chemical reaction molecules and atoms (reactants) are rearranged into new combinations that result in new kinds of atoms or molecules (products).

The gaseous state occurs at a higher temperature range than the solid and liquid states of the same substance. In this state, molecules flow very freely around each other and will spread out as far as they're able. Gases maintain neither a constant volume nor a constant shape.

An acid is a substance that gives up positively charged hydrogen ions (H⁺) when dissolved in water. A base (alkaline) gives up negatively charged hydroxide ions (OH^-) when dissolved in water. pH is a scale that measures of how basic or acidic a solution is. Numbered from 0 to 14, solutions with a pH of 7 are neutral, less than 7 are acidic, more than 7 are alkaline.

Below domain, life is classified into six kingdoms: plants, animals, archaebacteria, eubacteria, and fungi. The last kingdom, protists, include all microscopic organisms that are not bacteria, animals, plants or fungi.  (Archaebacteria and eubacteria are sometimes combined into a single kingdom, monera.)