Chem4Kids.com: Matter: States of Matter
States of Matter
There are five main states of matter. Solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and BoseEinstein condensates (BEC) are all different states of matter. Each of these states
is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to
another when specific physical conditions are present. One example is
temperature. When the temperature of a system goes up, the matter in the system
becomes more excited and active. Scientists say that it moves to a higher
energy state. Generally, as the temperature rises, matter moves to a more active
state.
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Think about it this way. Remember that glass of water (H2 O) we talked about?
When the temperature of the water goes up, the molecules get more excited and
bounce a lot more. If you give a liquid water molecule enough energy, it escapes
the liquid phase and becomes a gas. Have you ever noticed that you can smell a
turkey dinner after it starts to heat up? As the energy of the molecules inside the
turkey heat up, they escape as a gas. You are able to smell those volatile gas
molecules.
A "phase" describes a physical state of matter. The key word to notice is
physical. Things only move from one phase to another by physical means. If
energy is added (like increasing the temperature) or if energy is taken away (like
freezing something), you have created a physical change.
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Chem4Kids.com: Matter: States of Matter
A compound or element can move from one phase to another, but still be the same
substance. You can see water vapor, in the form of steam, over a boiling pot of
water. That vapor (or gas) can condense and become a drop of water. If you put
that drop in the freezer, it would become a solid piece of ice. No matter what phase
it was in, it was always water. It always had the same chemical properties. On the
other hand, a chemical change would change the way the water acted, eventually
making it not water, but something completely different. If you added a carbon (C)
atom to a water molecule, you would have formaldehyde (H2 CO), and that is
nothing like water.
Related Activities
General Matter Quiz
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States of Matter
Quiz
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