Final answer:
In precipitation, rainwater can fall as a liquid, most commonly as rain, or as a solid, such as snow, sleet, or hail. This is part of the water cycle which includes evaporation, condensation, and precipitation that completes when water returns to the oceans.
Step-by-step explanation:
In precipitation, rainwater can fall as either liquid or solid forms. The water cycle includes evaporation, where water changes from a liquid to water vapor, followed by condensation, where it cools in the atmosphere and returns to liquid form, potentially forming clouds. Precipitation occurs when these droplets become heavy enough to fall to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain.
Rain is the most common form of precipitation and refers to liquid water droplets that fall from clouds. Other forms such as snow, sleet, hail, and freezing rain are also precipitation but occur usually when temperatures are at or below the freezing point, making them solid forms of precipitation.
After precipitation, the water may enter freshwater bodies, infiltrate the soil, become part of the groundwater system, or reenter the oceans — completing the water cycle.
In summary, when asked about the forms rainwater can fall as in precipitation, the correct options would be as a liquid in the form of rain or as a solid in forms like snow and hail.