Hello Everyone, thanks for stopping by to check out another post on chemistry. In today's post, I'll be explaining the States of Matter.
Why you should understand states of matter:
States of matter give valuable information about the behavior of a substance. Understanding how a substance behaves is crucial to the chemistry which is applicable to a substance.
Key Ideas
- States of Matter
- Organization of the States of Matter
- Changing from one state to another
States of Matter
The three main states of matter are liquid, gas, and solid. Additionally, Plasma and Bose-Einstein Condensate are the 4th and 5th states of matter. While I know very little about Plasma, I know even less about Bose-Einstien Condensate.
Temperature strongly impacts the state of matter an element exists in. Below is a periodic table that is color-coded based on the state of matter of each element at room temperature.
The majority of elements are solids at room temperature. However, the Nobel gases are all gases at room temperature. Notably, Mercury (Hg) and Bromine (Br) are liquids at room temperature.
Organization of the States of Matter
The molecules within a solid are very closely packed. This makes the solid very rigid. Solids are not very compressible.
Liquids are lightly more compressible because the molecules which make up a liquid are less closely packed together. They take the shape of their container but do not completely fill its volume.
The molecules in a gas are the least closely packed together. Due to this, gases are very compressible. They spread out in the entire volume of their container.
Plasma is an area that contains high energy particles that are charged such as electrons that are not participating in reactions.
Changing from one state to another
Below is an image of the processes which allow substances to change from one state of matter to another. They are as follows:
1. Melting: A solid turns into a liquid.
2. Freezing: A liquid turns into a solid.
3. Vaporization: A liquid turns into a gas.
4. Condensation: A gas turns into a liquid.
5. Sublimation: A solid turns into a gas without becoming a liquid first.
6. Condensation: A gas turns into a solid without becoming a liquid first.
Summary
- The three main states of matter are liquid, gas, and solid.
- Solids are not very compressible, rigid, closely packed, and do not take the shape of their container.
- Liquids are slightly compressible, fluid, less closely packed, and somewhat take the shape of their container.
- Gases are very compressible, not closely packed, and fill the entire volume of their container.
- Substances commonly switch between states of matter and each transition has a name.
I hope this post has been helpful. If you have any questions feel free to comment below or send me a message. You can also watch my youtube video on States of Matter which I've linked below.
- Saren
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