 Particle arrangement and behavior in different phases of matter:

o Solids:
 Tightly packed together, organized, particles not moving or vibrating if there
is no external interference
o Liquid
 Loose, not organized, particles moving around
o Gas
 Even more loose and further apart than liquid, not organized, particles
moving around more randomly and rapidly than liquid.
o When an object phase changes (either from solid to liquid, etc.) The arrangement of
particles also change
o In a cooling or heating curve, the changes in state of matter OCCUR during when the
line has zero slope. Once the line has started to rise again, it means that the phase
change is COMPLETED

 Expansion and Contraction of Particles

o All phases of matter can expand or contract when being heated or cooled.
o For example, a solid metal rod, with a ring loosely fitted around it. Once it is HEATED,
the ring can then be fitted TIGHTLY around it.
 Once the metal rod cools down, then the ring becomes loose again.
 Solids expand in this matter because the particles “vibrate” more when
compared to being no vibration when it is cooled. (Think of it like the
particles occupying more space due to vibration)
o Another example is air balloons. Once you heat up the air in the air balloon, you can
see it puffs up. This is because the particles start to move more rapidly and thus,
expanding.
 Additionally, the more heat energy is given into the gas, the more energy gas
particles receive, and thus the more the kinetic energy of the gas particles.
 Thus, gas can also expand or contract, similar to solids.
 Temperature vs Heat Energy
o Temperature DOES NOT measure heat energy
 Unit for temperature is Celsius.
  It ONLY measures how HOT something is
 It is the AVERAGE kinetic energy of particles in an object (e.g. particles in
object at 100 Celsius is moving faster than object at 10 Celsius).
o Unit for Heat Energy is Joules
 Heat energy is a form of energy in which an object receives when it is heated
o If there is more heat energy in an object, the temperature increases
o Both things CORRELATE, but they are NOT the same
 Conductors vs Insulators
o Note: DO NOT confuse heat conductor vs electrical conductor
o However, sometimes both are the same in that some materials like metals are both
good conductors of heat andelectricity.
o Heat conduction:
 Tells how easy and fast heat can travel through an object.
 As particles vibrate, they bump in and cause nearby particles to vibrate as
well. If they are tightly packed together (like in metal for example), they can
bump into each other faster and this cause heat to transfer easier.
o Electrical conductor:
 Depends on how “resistant” the object is.
 Electrical conductivity measures how “EASY” the object allows electrons to
flow through.
 In metals for example, it easily allows electrons to flow through with less
resistance, and therefore it is a GOOD conductor.
 Convection in Liquids and Gas:
o Two main things to remember:
 HIGH temperature has LOW density, LOW temperature has HIGH density.
 LOW density FLOATS, HIGH density SINKS.
o In gas:
 If the air is heated, it starts to become LESS dense and this causes it to float.
As it floats, it displaces the cold air to come back down.
 Application: Hot air balloon. When we heat the air, the less-dense hot air
rises. As it rises, it gets trapped in the balloon, and this is what lifts the
balloon up.
 Application: In our home, we can have a heater that warms air at the
bottom. As the air is warmed, it rises to the top, and pushes the cold air
down to be warmed.
 Cycle repeats. Having insulator to trap warm air makes your home
warm.
  BE CAREFUL: In the picture above, the heater CAN be a RADIATOR. It gives heat by
RADIATION. But once the air is heated by RADIATION, it then goes through convection
process.
 Convection in Liquid: As you heat the water:
o Water becomes hotter and less dense -> Rise to the top and displaces cold water
at the top
o Then cycle repeats and eventually the water boils

Electric Review

 Electrical Resistance
o Tells how easy or hard an object allows electrons to flow through it.
o If allows to flow easily, means object has low resistance and thus are good
conductors.
o If not, then it has high resistance and are insulators
o Many aspects can affect whether an object has high or low resistance. Example
 Material object is made of
 Length and shape
 Longer means higher resistance
 If coiled up, etc. Higher resistance (remember, a lamp, which is a
resistor, is just a coiled up wire!
 Area
 Narrower cables have higher resistance than larger cables
 Series and Parallel Circuits
o Note: Remember that electricity will ALWAYS choose path of lowest resistance
 In series, there is no path to choose, so current is the same in a series
circuit.
 In parallel, there is a path that it can choose, thus current CAN be different
in each path.
o Remember, Current is NEVER used up!

Let’s have an In-depth look at PARALLEL CIRCUIT Behavior

 Here I have for you all the ammeter readings for 4 different parallel circuits
 Notice how all four circuits have the same power source level (at 120V)
 Remember: Electricity CHOOSES path of LESS resistance.
o In Circuit A: As we can see, both path have a resistor with equal resistance.
Therefore, electric current equally divides between both branches.
o In Circuit B and C: See how when we increase the resistance of 1 resistor, electric
current starts to choose the path with the lessor resistor? Therefore, electric current
DOESN’T always divide equally, but it divides based on principle of “choosing path of
less resistance”
 Also notice how the current readings decreased? That is because we
INCREASED the TOTAL CIRCUIT RESISTANCE. This therefore REDUCES the
TOTAL CIRCUIT CURRENT!
 However, in the end, the current MUST add up before and after the circuit
branches.
 o In Circuit D, see how that we increase BOTH resistors, the total current DECREASES
even more? However now they’re equally divided again!.

Now lets look at a SERIES CIRCUIT

 See how in all circuits, the current is the same? That is because in series circuit, the current IS
THE SAME for the entire circuit.
o However, as we see, when we increase the resistance of 1 resistor (In Circuit B), or
plug in another resistor, the TOTAL CIRCUIT RESISTANCE INCREASED.
o And as we know from parallel circuit, INCREASING total circuit resistance DECREASES
the total circuit current.

 Important Note: Don’t forget, Lamp and Motors ARE resistors too! So plugging in a lamp or
motor to either a parallel or series circuit will do the same thing as plugging in a new
resistor!

 Voltage and Current

o Voltage can be used up
  It’s like the force pushing electrons getting used up
o Current can NEVER be used up.
 This is because electrons flow in a loop. The electrons never go anywhere. It
can have no flow, but the electrons will NEVER be used up.
o When you’re confused just think of the water hose analogy:

 Here:
o Current is the water inside the system. It is just flowing around
o Voltage is like that force that is pushing the water to flow.
o As water flows the force that is pushing it can decrease.
 Therefore the energy pushing it DECREASES, but the amount of water (AKA
the current) DOESN’T decrease.
 Ammeter and Voltmeter
o Ammeter
 Measures Amperage (Unit for Electric Current)
 To place in a circuit, you have to put in a SERIES
 Basically, if the series is already in a loop, you have to BREAK the
circuit in order to put in the ammeter (which is a pain)
o Voltmeter
 Measures Voltage
 To place in circuit, you have to put in a PARALLEL
 Don’t have to break the circuit, you just have to put in a wire
extension from the main circuit to put in extra loop