🌧️ Rain & Puddles
🌧️ Rain & Puddles — The Water Cycle
Watch rain fall and puddles form! Discover how raindrops make ripples, why the sky turns grey before rain, and how water evaporates back into clouds — the endless water cycle in real time.
🔬 What It Demonstrates
Raindrops create circular ripple waves on the water surface (capillary waves). When ripples meet, they add together (constructive interference) or cancel out (destructive interference), creating patterns.
🎮 How to Use
Use the rain slider from light drizzle to thunderstorm. Click anywhere on the puddle to drop a stone and watch the ripples spread. Press the evaporate button to watch the puddle shrink.
💡 Did You Know?
The smell of rain on dry earth has a name: petrichor. It comes from geosmin, a chemical produced by soil bacteria (Streptomyces) released when rain hits dry soil. Humans can detect petrichor at just 5 parts per trillion — more sensitive than sharks detecting blood.