Solids, Liquids, and Gases :: essays research papers

Solids, liquids, and gases are the three main, or fundamental phases of matter. Each one has a different density and a different level of stability. What determines the stability of each phase is the bond between it's atoms. The tighter the bond between it's atoms the more stable that phase of matter is. Solids are the most stable form of matter, followed by liquids, and then gases. Solids have a definite shape and do not take the shape of their container. Liquids do not have any definite shape and do take the shape of their container, the same is true with gases. Once again it is the bond between the atoms of liquids, and gases that make it have no definite shape. The first phase of matter is solids. Solids are the most stable form of matter. Solids are more stable than liquids and gases. One type of solid is a Crystalline solid. The particles in a crystalline solid have a regular repeating pattern. The types of crystalline solids are metals, alloys, salts, valence crystals, molecular crystals, polymers, and plastics. Most elementscrystalize as metals. Some solids can also be frozen liquids. The atoms in a solid are tightly bonded which means it has a definiteshape. The second phase of matter is liquids. Liquids have no definite shape. Liquids are less orderly than solids but more orderly than gases. Liquids can flow very easily. Liquids also take the shape of their container. Most liquids are very good conductors. Most liquids are also good solvents. Some solids float in liquids depending on their density. If the solid is less dense than the liquid then it floats on the liquids surface. If the solid is more dense than the liquid then it sinks in the liquids. For example an egg normally sinks in water because it's density is higher than water's density. When you add salt to the water the density of the water becomes higher than the egg's density so the egg floats. The third and final fundamental phase of matter is gas. Gases are the least orderly of the three phases of matter. Gases take the shape of their container because of the very weak bond between their atoms. Gases are also very low in density. The average gas is 1000 times less than that of the average liquid. The volume of gas varies with many things including temperature and pressure. These are explained in Charles's and Boyle's laws. Boyle's law states that the volume of gas varies indefinitely with the pressure applied to it.