Is there a set amount of water on Earth, or is more created and if so how is the water lost....just wondered!?

Answer 1

there is a set amount of oxygen and hydrogen on earth, though not all is in the form of water and in many cases like plants and our bodies it is present but not readily noticed, if you think back to your chemistry lessons you may remember certain experiments where you create water as a bi product of an experiment.
there is more than the water cycle to take into account for physical water on earth

Answer 2

Water is created through many chemical reactions. When molecules contain hydrogen combine w/ oxygen, water is formed. There is not a set amount of water at any given time. The elements that are in water may be tied up in another chemical form. If you look at the chemical reaction :

2 H2 + O2 <==> 2 H2O This reaction can go either way. At times on earth "water" is not in the H2O form but in the components that would turn into water. So the amount of water on earth varies/,

Answer 3

As far as I understand, all the water "lost" from evaporation and subduction and all other previous suggestions isn't lost in so far as the original question, it's just moved around, eg water lost in subduction is still there, just not in the sea.

Water can be created, the easiest way of showing where water has been made is combustion. If you watch a car exhaust, especially an exhaust from a larger engine, you may see water dripping from it. Additionally, the vapours you see from an exhaust on a cold day are mostly water vapour. So yes, the water has been created.

However, how much water was used in creating the matter that decayed to form oil?!?

The question cycles, just like water!!

Answer 4

Water gets absorbed by plant that chemically combine it with CO2 to create sugars and cellulose. When those plants decompose, burn or are eaten, the sugars revert to CO2 and water, so in the end, this effect cancel itself out.

There is however some additonal water that falls on earth in the form of billions of small meteorite and comet fragment coming in the atmosphere every day. This effect is small compared with the amount of water already present, it would take million of years to note any difference (but some theory makes it that most of the water on Earth comes from comets hitting our planet billion of years ago, so the effect was not always negligible).

Also, as vapor rise, some water molecule in the upper atmophere might get kicked into space by high energy perticle called cosmir rays, or through normal evaporation into space.

There is also water sent up in space to the space station that gets flushed out, and while some may eventually fall back, some might be be thrown off orbit by orbiting debris, or by cosmic rays.

Finally, a minute amount is used up in some industrial chemical processes.

IIn the end, the combination of those effects is that there is most likely a slight gain in the amount of water on earth.

Answer 5

water is h2o u can find in many things for instance ,h2s is a deadly gas but when u burn it the h is burned and s becomes so2. so the amount of water changes all the time. lately the water in the air is very high because of the things that we burn. when u burn things there is almost always water vapor given off,and co2. the environmentalist want to to look at the tremendous amount of things that are burned ,several million gal gasoline per day & etc . If that is so where is the co2??? u cant find it because the plants are hungry for co2 which they take in and put out ox. I did work where there was a chance of co2 causeing a problem so I wore a detector thar would alarm at 1 part per million . Great system right

Answer 6

There are only a few fluxes of water in and out of the hydrologic system.

Water is lost in subduction. Though much of it is lost and causes volcanism at subduction zones, some is lost.

Water is gained by volcanism and comets. Water can be up to 5% of some volcanic material, but it usually is no lower than 0.5%. Also, small comets hit the earth all the time, and they have water too.

Check out the small comets link, it a new and interesting theory of water intake.

Answer 7

Every time a living creature metabolises its food, hydrogen in the food combines with oxygen to produce water. Every time a plant photosynthesises sugar, water is broken up and produces oxygen.
This means there is a balance between plants making oxygen from water and animals making water from oxygen.

So, if nature is in balance with itself the total amount of water on earth should be pretty much constant.

Answer 8

okay...from what i know...there is no more water that can be created....what we have is what we get. yes, there is water stored in the polar ice caps, but we are all hoping that this doesnt melt. every single drop of water that we have basically comes from the sea, it is then taken up in to the clouds and then come back to us in the form of rain...which is the water that we use the most. of course after we use water, it is treated and it generally flows back into the sea or river system depending on where you live. then the cycle starts all over again with the water being in the ocean, evaporated up in to the clouds and then down to us...

Answer 9

There is a set amount of water. What is used always finds its way back into the ecosystem. It cannot be destroyed and it cannot be created

Answer 10

Water sometimes enters the Earth's system when a comet hits the planet, but it is only a tiny amount.