2.1.2

States of Matter

Test yourself

Physical States

Particles can be arranged in lots of different ways, just like children in a playground or jigsaw pieces. Sometimes particles are close together, sometimes they are far apart. Sometimes they are almost still and sometimes they move about very fast.

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Solids

  • Particles are arranged in a regular pattern of lines and rows.
  • The particles cannot move away from the position they are locked in, they just vibrate around a fixed position.
  • The particles are very close together and they always touch.
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Liquids

  • The particles in a liquid can move freely over each other.
  • The particles are arranged randomly.
  • Not all of the particles touch, but each particle will be touching at least one other particle.
  • There are small gaps between particles.
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Gases

  • The particles move randomly in all directions and travel very fast, zipping around.
  • The particles do not touch and are very spread out.
  • Sometimes gas particles bounce off each other (and off the walls of any container) if they happen to collide.

Jump to other topics

1Biology

1.1Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2Reproduction & Variation

1.3Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4Digestion & Nutrition

1.5Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6Biological Systems & Processes

2Chemistry

2.1Particles

2.2Chemical Reactions

2.3Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4The Periodic Table

2.5Materials & the Earth

2.6Reactivity

2.7Energetics

2.8Properties of Materials

3Physics

3.1Energy

3.2Forces & Motion

3.3Waves

3.4Electricity & Magnetism

3.5Matter

3.6Space Physics

4Thinking Scientifically

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