What is leach?

Leach is when something moves through another thing by being dissolved or carried along.

Imagine you have a glass of water and you drop in some sugar. If you leave it alone, the sugar will slowly mix into the water until you can’t tell them apart, that’s like leaching happening right in front of you!

Think about a sponge soaking up juice from a fruit. The juice moves through the sponge because it’s dissolved and can travel through the tiny holes in the sponge. That’s how leach works, one thing takes something else into itself, like a sponge taking in juice.

Or think about dirt in a garden after rain. Water seeps into the soil and carries some of the nutrients from the ground up to the plants, that's also leaching! The water acts like a tiny helper, moving things from one place to another so the plants can grow strong.

So next time you see sugar dissolving in water or feel wet dirt after rain, you’ll know leach is at work!