The sun heats the earth's water. this warm water turns into a vapor, and rises into the atmosphere, where it cools off. what happens to this water vapor? a. the water vapor evaporates and escapes into space. new water is formed by precipitation. b. the water vapor condenses as it cools, then it forms clouds. it later returns to the earth as precipitation. c. the water vapor only rises for a very short time, then settles back into the ocean unnoticed. d. the water vapor pushes clouds out of the way as it rises. this causes overcast conditions to clear.

B. The water vapor condenses as it cools, then it forms clouds. It later returns to the Earth as precipitation

Explanation:

Evaporation of water from the water bodies in the presence of heat from sun forms water vapors which in turn rise up in the atmosphere. This is followed by the cooling down of the water vapor and the formation of small water droplets. The process is called condensation and forms clouds.  

As the water droplets in clouds become larger, precipitation occurs which returns the water back to the water bodies and land. Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation are the major stages of the hydrological cycle on the earth.  

the median of the data is 4.5.