Think about a drop of water in the ocean. if it were to go through the whole hydrologic cycle, number the steps that would follow. 1. step 1 the groundwater flows into a river which empties back into the ocean. 2. step 2 the atmosphere is cooler, so the drop of water would change from a gas back to a liquid through condensation. 3. step 3 evaporation would change the drop of water to water vapor, a gas, which would rise into the atmosphere. 4. step 4 as more water vapor condenses into liquid, the drop of water will eventually drop to earth's surface as precipitation. 5. step 5 the drop of water falls to the ground as rain and is absorbed as ground