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Solid, Liquid, and Gas are the three states of matter, plasma is considered to be the fourth state. Any kind of substance that is known to have a mass and occupies a certain amount of space is called matter. Matter exists in different forms depending on the temperature, environmental conditions and various other factors. Solid, Liquid, and Gas differ from each other in their shape and volume. For example, solids are known to possess a definitive amount of shape and volume, liquids are considered to possess a definitive volume but lack a definite shape, and finally gases lack both definite shape and definite volume.
| Table of Contents |
Key takeaways: Solids, liquids, gases, shape, volume, flow, temperature, properties
What is Matter?
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Matter takes on numerous forms based on temperature, ambient circumstances, and other variables. Matter may be classified into three types: solid, liquid, and gas (plasma is considered to be the fourth state).
States of matter and their intermolecular forces
Solids
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Solids have the following properties:
- Closely packed
- Least kinetic energy
- Possess structural rigidity
- Cannot be compressed with pressure
- Broadly divided into amorphous (no long range regular pattern) and crystalline (constituents arranged in a regular pattern)
Solids can be further classified as metals, minerals, ceramics, organic solids, composite materials, and semiconductors.
Liquids
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Liquids have the following properties:
- It takes the shape of the container
- Definite volume but no fixed shape
- Distinctive property – surface tension
- Moderately packed
- Distributes external pressure equally throughout the liquid
- Flow from higher level to lower level
- Temperature and pressure determine the volume of an amount of liquid.
Gases
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Gases have the following properties:
- No fixed shape and volume
- Individual gas particles are separated by a large distance.
- Between the liquid and plasma phases is the gaseous state of matter.
- Loosely packed
- Arrangement of particles is diffuse
- Gases apply pressure in all directions
Difference between solids, liquids and gases
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The differences between solids, liquids and gases can be described as:
| Characteristic | Solid | Liquid | Gas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass | Definite | Definite | Definite |
| Shape | Definite | Shape of the container | Shape of the container |
| Volume | Definite | Definite | Indefinite |
| Interparticle space | Tightly packed | Moderately packed | Loosely packed |
| Kinetic energy | Least | Higher than solids but lesser than gases | Highest |
| Force of attraction between particles | Strongest | Weaker than solids but stronger than gases | Weakest |
| Compressibility | Negligible | Moderately compressed | Highly compressible |
| Fluidity | Not applicable | Present | Present |
| Rigidity | Most rigid | Less rigid | Absent |
| Diffusion | Very slow | Faster than solids but lesser than liquids | Fastest |
| Density | Highest | Lesser than solid but more than liquids | Least |
| Arrangement of molecules | Regular and close | Random and sparse | More random and sparse |
| Direction of Flow | - | Higher level to lower level | All directions |
| Pressure | One direction – towards the bottom of the material | 2 direction – liquids exert pressure downwards and towards the sides of the container | All sides of the container. |
| Number of free surfaces | Any number | One | No free spaces |
| Volume measurement | Cubic units (cubic centimetre, cubic meter etc.) | Litre 1cm3 = 1 mL 1dm3 = 1L | Cubic feet or cubic meters. |
Exertion of pressure by solids liquids and gases
Things to remember
- Solids are rigid, dense, closely packed, have less intermolecular space and possess the least amount of kinetic energy.
- Liquids are less rigid, less dense, moderately packed, have more intermolecular spaces than solids and less than gases, and possess more amount of kinetic energy compared to solids, but lesser than that of liquids.
- Gases are least rigid, highly compressible, least dense, loosely packed, have greater intermolecular spaces than solids and liquids, and possess the greatest amount of kinetic energy.
- Solids exert pressure only downwards, liquids exert pressure towards the bottom and also the sides of the container and finally, gases exert pressure in all directions.
- Liquids and gases are poor conductions of heat or electricity as their molecules are further spread out when compared to solids.
- As solids are densely packed and vibrate in situ, they have the lowest kinetic energy, while liquids have a larger kinetic energy than solids, so its particles glide past one other while as the gases have the highest kinetic energy, they float in the air.
Read More: Difference between conductors and insulators
Sample Questions
Ques. Explain what are solids. (3 marks)
Ans. Solids are types of matter in which the ions, atoms, or molecules are locked so closely together that they can't easily move about or away from one another.
- They have a constant mass and volume, and they are stiff.
- In solids, the intermolecular spacing of separation between adjacent molecules is so short that compression is impossible.
- In addition, the intermolecular attraction between the component particles is significantly greater in solids than it is in liquids and gases.
Ques. What are the types of solids? (5 marks)
Ans. Solids may be divided into two groups:
- Crystalline solids have their component particles ordered and grouped in a highly particular and predetermined way. The structure of crystalline solids include crystals, and each crystal has a distinct geometry. They are the most stable solids because they have a low potential energy.
- Amorphous solids have component particles that are organised in a random order. As there is no correct and definite arrangement of atoms or molecules in the lattice, these are referred to as non-crystalline solids. They are also known as pseudo solids because, despite their inability to form a crystalline structure, they may flow.
Ques. What are the properties of solids? (5 marks)
Ans. The following are the properties of solids:
- Definite volume
- Definite shape
- High density
- Incompressibility
- Conductivity,
- Hardness
- Malleability
- Definite melting point
- Low rate of diffusion
- Optical transmission
Ques. Solids have high melting and boiling points. Explain. (3 marks)
Ans. The melting and boiling points of a substance will be higher if the force of attraction is greater. In crystalline solids, all of the bonds between the particles in the crystal's repeating geometric structure are equal in strength. When heat is applied, those bonds will all shatter at once. The high melting point of crystalline solids is due to this. As the temperature rises, the molecules begin to vibrate or move quicker, which is similar to their boiling point.
Ques. Are liquids good conductors? Discuss. (2 marks)
Ans. Electric conductors are materials that allow electricity to pass through them easily and smoothly. Conducting liquids, or electrolytes, are liquids that allow electricity to travel through them. Acids, bases, and salts are among the most common liquids that exhibit this property. For example, distilled water is an insulator or poor conductor, but when salt is dissolved in it, the solution becomes a conductor.
Ques. List out the properties of liquids. (5 marks)
Ans. The following are the properties of liquids:
- Capillary action
- Adhesive and cohesive forces
- Contact angle: Wetting is calculated by calculating the contact angle formed by the liquid when it comes into contact with solids or liquids. The smaller the contact angle or surface tension, the greater the wetting propensity.
- Surface tension
- Vapour pressure
- Viscosity
- Wetting agent - A material is called a wetting agent if it decreases a liquid's surface tension, allowing it to spread more freely.
- Consistency
Ques. What are the similarities between liquids and gases? (5 marks)
Ans. Liquids and gases both are referred to be fluids because they flow. The similarities between the two are:
- When heated, they both expand.
- Both of these things are compressible.
- Both apply pressure on the side of a container's wall.
- Both exhibit the buoyancy phenomena. (Buoyancy may be found in other fluids as well, but liquid buoyancy is particularly powerful due to their great density.)
- Both are less dense than solids.
- Brownian motion may be seen in both.
- The entropy of both is greater than the entropy of solids.
- When both are cooled, the final state is solid.
- Both are irregularly shaped.
- Under the influence of gravity, both move in the direction of a lower slant.
- Interconversion is conceivable in both cases.
- The distance between two atoms in both cases is greater than the distance between atoms in solids.
- Both of them have a lower boiling point than solids.
- Both are less viscous than solids.
Ques. What are the differences between liquids and gases? (5 marks)
Ans. The differences between the two are as follows:
- The atoms in the liquid phase are rather densely packed, whereas the atoms in the gas phase are quite loosely packed.
- Compressing liquids is impossible, but compressing gas is possible.
- Liquids have a defined volume, but gases do not.
- Liquids and gases are both shapeless and take on the form of the container in which they are kept.
- Gases move in a random direction whereas liquids flow from higher to lower levels.
Ques. What are the similarities between liquid and gas flow? (3 marks)
Ans. The similarities between the flow of liquid and gases are as follows:
- Mass, energy, and momentum are all conserved by liquids and gases.
- The density of liquids and gases decreases as temperature rises, implying that the lighter component of the liquid or gas will be replaced by the heavier part.
- Conduction is the most common mode of heat transfer in liquids and gases (at extremely low speeds).
Ques. What are the differences between liquid and gas flow? (5 marks)
Ans. The differences between the two are as follows:
- The interactions between liquid and gas molecules are quite different. Because of the larger spacing between molecules, short range forces dominate in liquids, whereas attraction forces are significantly greater than long range forces in gases.
- The density, viscosity, and temperature of each are vastly different as a result of the interactions indicated above. Though Velocity and Shear have similar features, their quantities are vastly different.
- In liquid flows, pressure losses are greater than in gas fluxes.
- In gases, temperature rise is significant, but in liquids, it is insignificant.
- Liquid pumping needs more horsepower than gas blowing.
- When compared to gases, the compressibility of liquids is quite low.
- Liquids can moisten the surfaces of flowing channels, while gases have weak surface forces, which can cause molecules to adhere to the surfaces.
- The viscosity of liquids decreases with increasing temperature, whereas the opposite is true for gases.
- Liquid molecules have a substantially narrower mean free path than gases, and gases have much greater average velocities than liquids (usually 5-10 times).
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