PHASE CHANGE

Matter is basically a substance that takes up space. All matter is a solid, liquid, or gas, and they are called the
states of matter.
Everywhere a person looks, there are examples of solids: desks, chairs, windows, rocks, tissues, and much
more. Examples of liquids: water, milk, juice, chocolate syrup, soda, and others. Examples of gases are harder
to see because they are invisible: the oxygen in the air, propane gas used for a grill, helium inside a balloon,
and more.
Everything, all matter, can be identified as a solid, liquid, or gas.
Besides what they look like, there are many differences between solids, liquids, and gases. These differences
are called characteristics. The characteristics of each state of matter are different. These characteristics
determine if a substance is a solid, liquid, or gas.
A solid has a definite shape. It can be hard or soft, smooth, or rough. Solids can come in all sizes. A solid can
be large like the Statue of Liberty, or small like a marble. It can be very tiny like a bread crumb, or as big as a
mountain, and everything in between. If small enough, solids can be held in a person's hand, and they are
difficult to compress or push, or change shape.
The molecules of a solid are compact and close together, and nearly impossible to move through.
A liquid takes the shape of the container it is held in and will fill the bottom of a container. Liquids usually have
a smooth surface but does not have a specific size. A person may be able to hold a small amount of liquid in
their hand, but a liquid cannot be held like a solid. Liquids are less difficult to compress or push. It is much
easier to move through a liquid than a solid.
The molecules of a liquid are spread out more than a solid, but less than a gas.
Finally, a gas has no shape, but can fill a container or any size or shape. It will fill an entire container as the
molecules move. A gas cannot be felt in the hands like a solid or liquid. It has no surface or no particular size.
It cannot be held in a person's hands, and it is easy to push or compress. A gas is the easiest to move through
versus a liquid or solid.
The molecules in a gas are more spread out and move all the time. They are full of energy.
Water is the best example of a substance that can be a solid, liquid, or gas. Water by itself is a liquid. When
water freezes it becomes a solid. If a container of water is heated it turns into a gas called water vapor.
There are many other substances that can be more than one type of matter, too. Ice cream is a solid until it
melts, then it is a liquid. A moth ball is a solid, but it releases a gas that a person can smell across the room.
In summary, the different states of matter are called solids, liquids, and gases. The states of matter have
different characteristics and examples of each can be found throughout the universe.

VIDEO

Have you ever wondered why ice turns into puddles of water on a sweltering day? On Earth, materials exist in
one of three main states of matter: solid, liquid, or gas. Materials can change between these states. When a
state change occurs, a substance’s property will also change. However, if the state change is reversed, the
substance will recover the properties it had to begin with neat. Matter can transition between the three states
when heated or cooled. But why is heat key in all of these? When a material is heated, it absorbs heat energy.
This additional energy can cause attractive forces between molecules to break. This leads to rearrangements
of the particles because the attractive forces no longer hold them together as tightly.
The same happens when a liquid is heated, the attractive forces between the molecules break leading them to
become more widely dispersed and a gas to form. These four words describe Changes in State.

Evaporation and Boiling

Both are when a substance transforms from a liquid to a gas. Think of a boiling pound of water, all the water
bubbles. This is because all of the particles have enough energy to become gaseous, but water standing in a
pan that is not being heated by anything other than the environment can also turn into a gas. This is
Evaporation. Only the particles at the surface have enough energy to change from a liquid to a gas. Hence,
evaporation is a slower process than boiling, even though it achieves the same state change, both are types of
vaporization. The opposite of these vaporization processes is condensation.

Condensation
The transition from a gas to a liquid. Think of a cold can of soda on a hot day, those water droplets on the
outsides or the jew on the grass in the morning, or the steamed-up mirror after a hot bath. Even the clouds in
the sky or a foggy widescreen in a car; these are all examples of condensation. Water vapor in the air has
cooled down to form liquid droplets of water.

TRANSITION: Between Solids and Liquids

So, Melting, and freezing. Think of the Arctic Sea ice, in the summer, when air temperatures are warmer, more
heat energy is absorbed by the ice. This causes bonds to break between the ice’s water molecules and the ice
starts to melt. The solid ice becomes liquid water. But in the winter, the air temperatures are colder, and so,
seawaters freezes, and the ice starts to form again. There is less heat energy within the ice and so, more
bonds can form, holding it together as solid ice, so far so good, but did you know that sometimes when solids
are heated, they can turn straight into gases; this is called Sublimation.

Sublimation
This is only demonstrated by particular materials, such as solid carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice. When
subjected, to a certain pressure, it will turn straight into gaseous carbon dioxide. Liquid carbon dioxide exists,
but it only occurs very high pressures. Similarly, gases can turn straight into solids when cold. This is called
Deposition.
  When a material changes states, the mass stays the same. The density changes so the mass per unit
volume, but the mass does not change.

Particle Theory & States of Matter

Particle Theory, or sometimes Kinetic Theory, which help us explain how the particles in each stage behave.
By considering each of the particles as a small solid inelastic sphere.

In solids, there are strong forces of attraction between between the particles holds them all close together in a
fixed position, to form a regular lattice structure, and because the particles are fixed, the over all substance
keeps a definite shape and volume. So, it cannot flowlike a liquid. The particles can vibrate around though. So,
you can imagine them constantly jousting against one another. Now if we heat up a solid, as particles it gains
more energy and start to vibrate even more which weakens the forces between them, and at a certain
temperature, which we call the melting point. The particles will have enough energy to break free of their
bonds. And so, the solids melts into a liquid.

In liquids, there are only weak forces of attraction between the particles, so they are free to move around, and
are arranged randomly. However, the weak forces of attraction do mean that the particles tend to stick together
and are compact. This means they have a definite volume, even though their overall shape can change.
Allowing them to flow to fit a particular container. If we then heat up our liquid, the particles will again gain more
energy, and this will make the particles move around faster, which weakens the forces holding the particles
together. Then, once we reach the boiling point, the particles will have enough energy to break the bonds
altogether. And so, the liquid boils or evaporates into a gas. In gases, the force of attraction between the
different particles is very weak. So, they are basically free to move around by themselves. This means that
gases do not keep a definite shape or volume, and instead will always fill a container as they spread out as
much as possible.

Now, we normally say they are gases are constantly moving with a random motion, which is a bit confusing,
because gas particles actually move in straight lines. What we really mean by random motion is that the
particles can travel in any direction, and they will ed up being deflected buy solid walls and other gas particles
randomly. When we heat up a gas, and the particles get more energy and so travel faster, the gas will either
expand, if the container is in is expandable like a balloon or if the container is fixed, then the pressure will just
increase. On the other hand, if we cool the gas down enough, then the particles will not have enough energy to
overcome this force of attraction between them. And so, bonds will start to form between the particles,
condensing the gas, into a liquid.

As we cool down the liquid even further, the same thing happens, the particles wouldn’t have enough energy to
overcome the attraction between the molecules, and this time, even more bonds form, fixing the particles in
place, and freezing the liquid into a solid. Now the last thing to mention, is that if we’re working within a closed
system, changes in state won’t change the mass at all, as is still the same number of particles. However, the
density of the substance will change. With solids having the highest density, liquid having slightly lower density,
and gases having a lowest density of all three.
  

Changes between Solid to Liquid

            The particles in a solid are held together strongly. The spaces between the particles are very small. A
solid has a fixed shape and a fixed volume because the particles can move only a little. The particles vibrate
back and forth but remain in their fixed positions. As a solid is heated, the particles vibrate faster and faster
until they have enough energy to break away from their fixed positions. When this happens, the particles can
move about more freely. The change from a solid to a liquid is called melting. The reverse of melting is
called freezing or solidification. This is the change from a liquid to a solid. As a liquid cool, the particles in the
liquid lose energy and move more and more slowly. When they settle into fixed positions, the liquid has frozen
or solidified.

Changes between Liquid to Gas

             The particles in a liquid are separated by spaces that are large enough to allow the particles to slide
past each other. A liquid takes the shape of its container because the particles can move around more freely
than they can in a solid. They are held close together, however. Therefore, a liquid has a fixed volume, like a
solid. When a liquid absorbs heat energy, the particles move about more and more quickly. Some of the
particles gain enough energy to break free of the other particles. When this happens, the liquid changes to a
gas. The change from a liquid to a gas is called evaporation. The reverse process – the change from a gas to a
liquid is called condensation. As a gas cools, the particles in the gas lose energy and move more and more
slowly until the gas condenses to a liquid.