2.6.3

State Symbols

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State Symbols

State symbols are letters that tell us what state of matter a substance is in. There are 4 different state symbols:

Illustrative background for (s)Illustrative background for (s) ?? "content

(s)

  • (s) is used for solids.
    • E.g. Mg(s).
    • E.g. Na(s).
Illustrative background for (l)Illustrative background for (l) ?? "content

(l)

  • (l) is used for pure liquids.
    • E.g. H2O(l).
    • E.g. Hg(l) (mercury is liquid at room temperature).
Illustrative background for (aq)Illustrative background for (aq) ?? "content

(aq)

  • (aq) is used for aqueous solutions (substances dissolved in water), and therefore it is used more often than (l).
    • E.g. NaOH(aq).
    • E.g. H2SO4(aq).
Illustrative background for (g)Illustrative background for (g) ?? "content

(g)

  • (g) is used for gases.
    • E.g. H2(g).
    • E.g. CO2(g).

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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