Physical states of matter

Matter refers to the substances that make up our universe. When we observe a sample of matter, it can be in any of three different physical states:

• solid
• liquid
• gas

Comparison

A detailed analysis of the three states of matter in terms of its shape, volume, compressibility and submicroscopic properties.

	Shape	Volume	Compressibility	Submicroscopic properties
SOLID	Has definite 3-D shape	Has a definite volume	Negligible	Particles touching, tightly packed in a regular arrangement
LIQUID	Indefinite, takes on the shape of the container it occupies	Has a definite volume	Very little	Particles touching but mobile, can glide over one another (i.e. flow)
GAS	Indefinite, takes on the shape of the container it occupies	Indefinite, takes on the volume of the container it occupies	High	Particles are far apart, move independently of one another

Phase transition processes

Depending on the surrounding temperature and pressure, water can exist as:

• solid ice
• liquid water
• gaseous steam

Ice (solid) Water (liquid) Steam (gas)

Melting: Ice Water (solid to liquid)

Freezing: Water Ice (liquid to solid)

Vaporization: Water Steam (liquid to gas)

Condensation: Steam Water (gas to liquid)

Other transitions

Some materials like dry ice and iodine can undergo phase transition from the solid phase to the gas phase without going through the liquid phase.

Dry Ice (solid) Carbon Dioxide (solid to gas)

Sublimation: Dry ice Carbon dioxide (solid to gas)

Deposition: Carbon dioxide Dry ice (gas to solid)

Content suitability

BCIT courses: CHEM 0011