Have you ever seen how an ice cream melts? Matter is something that has mass and occupies space. According to the kinetic particle theory, matter is made up of tiny particles that are in constant random motion. In this lesson we will go through the states of matter. There are three states of matter.
Solid
Liquid
Gas
Now, what are solids?
Solids particles are in fixed position that are tightly packed in an orderly manner, that is why solids have fixed shape. Solids have fixed volume and they can not be compressed, this is because particles in solids have no space in between them to move closer to each other when pressure is applied. The particles in a solid can not move freely. The force of attraction between solids is strong but the kinetic energy of the particles is very low. The particles only vibrate on fixed positions.
Liquids:
Liquid particles are not in fixed position and can move freely throughout the liquid, that is why liquids do not have a fixed shape. Liquids also have fixed volume and they can not be compressed, this is because particles in liquid are still packed quite closely together and the particles do not have enough space to move closer to each other. The force of attraction between liquid particles is weak and the kinetic energy is higher than solids but lower than gases.
Gas:
Gas particles are spread far apart from one another and move rapidly in any direction, that is why gases do not have fixed shape. Gases do not have fixed volume and hence they can be compressed. This is due to the large space between the particles that allows them to move closer to each other when force or pressure is applied. The force of attraction between gas particles is very weak but the kinetic energy of the particles is high.
Summary is given in the table below:
Characteristics | Solid | Liquid | Gas |
Arrangement of Particles | Orderly Closely Packed | Disorderly Less Closely Packed | Disorderly Very far apart |
Forces of attraction | Very strong | Strong | Very weak |
Kinetic Energy | Very low | Low | High |
Motion of Particles | Vibrate on fixed positions | Move freely through the liquid | Move about rapidly in any direction |
Volume | Fixed | Fixed | Not Fixed |
Shape | Fixed | Fixed | Not Fixed |
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