States of Matter
Maggie Lou Geiger
Solids
3 important details:
1. Changing the container doesn't change the shape or volume of a solid.
2. Almost all solids have some type of orderly arrangement of particles at the atomic level.
3. The term definite doesn't mean that the shape or volume can never change.
Examples:
1. Colored pencils
2. A shirt
3. A clarinet
Liquids
3 important details:
1. Medium kinetic energy.
2. Molecules move more freely, but are close together.
3. Takes the shape of the container.
Examples:
1. Glass of orange juice
2. Paint
3. A cup of tea
Gases
3 important details:
1. Can take the shape and volume of its container.
2. Has high kinetic energy.
3. Molecules are far apart and can move more freely.
Examples:
1. Natural gas
2. Helium in a balloon
3. Air
Plasma
3 important details:
1. Most common phase of matter in the universe.
2. Can be thought of as a gas consisting of electrons instead of atoms.
3. Particles have extremely large amounts of energy.
Examples:
1. Stars
2. Lightning
3. Fluorescent lights
Bose-Einstein Condensate
3 important details:
1. Einstein predicted this state of matter in the 1920's.
2. It only exists at extremely low temperatures, -273 degrees C (absolute zero: 0 K).
3. Groups of atoms behave as though they are a single particle.
Examples:
1. Superfluid
2. Superconductor
3. Neutron star