Umme Amma ra

Chapter 4
Th e Ph ysi cs tha t Matter
Everythin g, we see arou nd_us is a form of matter. Our body is
made u~ ot ~11att er. The s~m on our hand is matter. The cup you
are holdmg 111 your hand 1s matter. The food you cook is matter.
The clothes you wear are matter. The water you drink is matter
and even the air you breathe is matter. The whole universe is
made up of matter. Such is the importance of matt er in our li ves.
So what is matter?

Matter is defined as something which has mass and which

occupies some space. The space occupied by matter is called
vol ume . Matter has large number of atoms which build it up.
Atoms are the smallest particle that exist in natu re which can
labelled as matter. An atom can be further broken down into
su batomic particles like electron, proton and nucleus but since
they do contain mass, they cannot be classified as matter. So
atom s are the smallest unit of matter. Basically matt er exists in
three states. They are solids, liqui ds and gase s.

Solids have a definite mass and

shape. Right now , you may be
seated on a chair holding my book
in your hand-- all these things
chair, book , hand etc. are solids.
Something is usually described as a
LIQUID solid if it can hold its own shape.
The particles in most solids are
closely packed together. E_ven

I Q SOLID
though the particles are locked mto
place and cannot move or slide past
each other, they can still vibrate a
tiny bit when excited. As you can
see, the bonds between molecules in a solid are very strong. This
helps the solid to have a definite shape.

41
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lrl\ c "c;1kcr hllll l : -. ,\Ill I thcY. can tm)\'c around sltQhtl y
iqut l . ,
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' . d t·ikc . . "" Uh t~
llln ,). lkn l'L'. 1tqu1 , ., till' shape ol t 1e container it . ~y t ~
is Pr~ a~
in .
se~l
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l hL' ;1\lHl1S ~HH1 lllll 1L_,L·uk', in ._euas
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es arc much more s
. sn 1·cis ir liLllltds and 1te1.: lo mo ve mo . Preact
ti· 1a11 111 1 • L - S und. They ()lll
and nw\ e freely al hi~h speeds. o tIi~y c!n Vib
spr
ead arolln rat~
open space quickly and freely. A gas w~ll till
any containerd a~
if the contain er is nnt sea led. the gas will
escape. Water v 'but
is the gaseous form of water. Unlike ice or wa
ter, water v:p()llt
is invisible. We exhale water vapom whenever
we breath/iur
We cannot see the ,vater vapour as we exhale,
but if we ho\ct Ut.
eyeglasses or smartphone to our mouths, we
can see the ()llr
vapour condensing (bec ommg . 1· 'd) l
1qu1 on t 1ese ob.~ects. Water

Water cycle is the best example of change

in the phase
matter. Water cycle 1.s the basic. torm
' f' l
o p rnse cl1ange of mattOf
that we are taught at primary level but this
concept remai~r
rel eva nt at any stage of our life. Water cycle
is responsible ro:
giving us rains. Let us try to underst and wh
at happens in the
process of the water cycle.

Water Cycle:
The water cycle is a way that water moves all
around the Earth.
It never stops and doesn't really have a beg
inning or an end. lt\
like a big circle. We'll describe it by starting
with water that's on
land. For example, water that resides in the
ocean or in a lake.
Some water on the surface of the ocean wil
l evaporate due to
heat from the sun. When it evaporates it turn
s into vapor and
goes up into the atmosphere. This vapor gets
together with a lot
of other vapor and turns into clouds. Clouds
move about the
earth and once they are so full of water they
drop the water to
Earth in some form of precipitation. It could
be rain , snow, sleet,
or hail.

42
 Umme Ammara

When the water hits the earth it may fall right back into the
ocean or feed a flowe~ or become snow on the top of a
mountain . Eventually this water will evaporate and start the
whole cycle again.

The water on land turns into vapour via three different processes
namely Evapouration, sublimation and transpiration. Let us
discuss what these terms mean in the following paragraphs.

Evapouration is the main process by which water from the

ground turns into vapour. Around 90 percent of the water vapor
in the atmosphere gets there through evaporation. Evaporation
takes place only on the water's surface. It takes energy in the
form of heat. Hot water will evaporate more easily than cold
water. The sun provides a lot of the energy for evaporation in
the water cycle , primarily causing evaporation from the surface
of the ocean.

Sublimation is when water moves directly to vapor state from

ice or snow without ever melting into water. Good conditions
for sublimation to occur is when ice or snow is in very cold
conditions , but it is windy and the sun is shining. This type of
phase change generally takes place in polar regions where snow
is the general norm.

Transpiration is when plants release water on to their leaves

that then evaporates into vapor. Plants will release a lot of water
as they grow. Around IO percent of the water vapor in the
atmosphere is estimated to come from transpiration.

By the above mentioned three processes, water tun1s into water

vapour and stores in the atmosphere in the form of clouds. There
is a small amount of water even in clear skies but clouds are
where water has started to condense. Condensation is the
process of water vapor becoming liquid water. Clouds are
nothing but liquid water. In other terms, condensation is the
formation of clouds. Condensation is a major step in the water
cycle.
43
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Precipi1a1ion

~ 1

After condensation i.e. af

ter the water vapour beco \
water and forms clouds, it m e liqui~\
falls back from the atmos
land. Once enough water phere tI
gathers in a cloud, droplet
will fall to the earth. Th s of Wat;:
is process is called Prec
Depending on the tempera ipitation
ture and weather, this coul
snow , sleet , or even hail. d be ra~
Via the process of precipita I

water which evaporated fro tion, the

m land returns back to it.
A lot of the Earth's water
does not take part in the w
very often., Much of it is ater cycle
stored. The Earth stores wa
number of places. The oc ter in a
ean is the largest storage
Around 96 percent of the of water.
Earth's water is stored in
We can't drink the salty the ocean.
ocean water, so fortunatel
freshwater is also stored y for us,
in lakes, glaciers, snow ca
and below the ground in gr ps, rivers,
oundwater storage.
Many people have a m
isconception that clouds
vapour. In reality, clouds ar are water
e not water vapour but liqui
The air around us , on a hu d water.
mid summer day, is choc
water vapor, but we don't se k full of
e any of it. On the other ha
is very little water vapor in nd, there
the air during the cold of w
we can easily make clouds inter, yet
with our breath.
44
 Umme Am mara

s of liq uid wa ter droplet s or ice th at are

are co lle cti on .
ld
[ JOLI dS
en ou gh to flo at. W he n the water vapor m the air ge ts co
. · o 11qu · 1·d m · the form of droplet s.
sm a11 h it condenses .bac k mt .
enou g , .
n 1s not automati c. It takes a bit of matter (a
the condensat10 . order to Ju . mp start the process. Du st
Butdensation nuc leus ) m
11
air do the tri ck by pr ov idi ng a surface for th ~
co1t , and ice in the
sa
water to condense on.

wh ite be ca us e the wa ter droplets makin g the cloud

Clouds are na ntly according to Mie
e to sc att er lig ht re so
are the right siz
g. M ie sc att er in g do es no t depend on wavelength , so all
scatterin the first chapter that the
ts (w e di sc us se d thi s in
colors get reflec x
ap pear wh ite be ca us e of sc attering). We experience a mi
clouds droplets of the cloud get
as wh ite . W he n the wa ter
of all colors d the
big , the i r we ig ht ov er co mes the cloud's buoyancy an
too
drops begin falling as rain.
exerted
we igh t or Buoyancy is an upward force
jec t by a flu id tha t op poses the weight of
Ob
be seen
an immersed object as can
fro m the ad jo in in g figure. 1n this case ,
. ing this
ob1ect I the fluid which is exert
bu oy an cy force is the condensation
fluid ~ we have
Bu oy an t nucleus (about which
ragraph)
Fo rc e discussed in the earlier pa
air , or the
like dust, salt, and ice in the
oplets of
air itself. When the water dr
y become
the cloud get too big , the
e
d th eir we ig ht in crea se s. At this point, they overcom
dense an
fo rce of th e flu id (a ir) and begin to fall as rain
the buoyancy
drops.

t th at co nd en sa tio n is the point in the water cycle

We have lea rn into
the hot va po ur to uc he s a cold surface and converts
~here
in the fo rm of clo ud s. Have you ever noticed ,
liquid water
the wi nt er seas on when yo u exhale, a small white cloud
during ? Why does it happen?
m es ou t of yo ur m outh
resembling fog co
ca us e th er e is m uc h he at in ou r bodies compared to
It happens be
45
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th e surroundings. So the air we exhale which is co .

. . ming
our body is hotter than the ~urroun dI~g ~Ir. When this o~t
co ll ides aaainst the surround mg cold a1r, 1t conden se hot 11
into liquid water or we can say it forms a srnSai°d tti~
b . ~
'
momentarily which soon gets dissolved into the atmos ahI c] ~
01
P ere. -,

We encounter the whole phenomenon of water cycle

0
basis in our kitchen while making food. Suppose wen a dai11
taking some ice cubes in a vessel and heating them on t~onsid~
The temperature at which the ice cubes melt to become : st0v~.
the melting point temperature. After a certain time we ater i1
steam rising from the vessel. The temperature at, which can
s~
steam starts to rise from the surface of water is called b } '
point te1~pe~ature and the process whic~ has j~st begun is ;: ;n
evaporation 1.e. the wa!er m !he vessel 1s tum1~g into vapou/1
we cover the vessel with a hd, the vapour which is rising fi 1
the surface of boiling water, will come in contact with r~h
surface of the lid which is at a relatively lower temperature th
the temperature of the boiling water. Hence condensation taka
place and the vapour transitions into liquid water which rema·
on the lid due the buoyancy force of the rising vapour. When th
drops of liquid water at the surface of the lid become larg
enough , they overcome the buoyancy and fall back into thi
vessel like a precipitate. In this way, we see a model of wate1 1

cycle daily in our very own kitchen. I

I
In the case of an open vessel, all the vapour from it is distributeo
into the surroundings. Hence the food takes a long time to coo~
If we cover the vessel with a lid, some of the vapour ge!i
trapped inside the vessel and this increases the heat inside thi
vessel due to the presence hot vapour inside it. So the foo~
cooks relative ly faster. However, any lid does not perfectl)I
cover a vessel. There is still some amount of space throug~
which vapour escapes out of the vessel. You can feel the hol
vapour if you keep your hand at the point of contact of the
vessel and the lid. However, I advise you against it, as steam call
cause you a severe burn.
46
 '
Umme Ammara

fr o m a co v er ed vessel can
eam escapin g
little amount ?f st pressure cooker.
ga
fhe tered by usm
be coun
in g li d w h ic h gets locked
has tight fi tt
A pressure cooker co o k er p ro vi d in g no room for the
l o f the ur is trapped
erfectly to the vess~ lt, th e h o t v ap o
ide. As a resu . 'd e the cooker increases
P rn to escape outs h t m s1
stea'de the cooker. so ea rate. If the vapou
r
. 51 o k ed at a fa st er
od is co . e pressure of
~gn ificantly and fo k sm
.
g n o n st o p , th
SI eeps on mcrea becomes huge, it
. side the cooker p re ss u re
:e vapour keeps on in
may cause the co
creasin
oker to burst
g . If th is
d u e to
vi d
h
ed
ig h pressure. To
to let the steam
h an is m p ro
e is a mec is let out
overcome this, ther ss u re . T h e st ea m
to build high pre can be cooked
out when it staits tle. T h is w ay fo od
ts out a whis
when the cooker le n g a cl o se d p re ss ure system.
y creati
faster in a cooker b
u r in th e ri g h t w ay to cook
using the vapo o f water vapour
This was all about th er e is ex ce ss
appens when d this concept. The
food faster. What h try to u n d er st an
Let us called humidity.
in the atmosphere? e at m o sp h er e is
vapour in th e humidity"?
presence o f water th e h ea t, it 's th
rase, "It's not amount o f water
Ever heard the ph it y , w h ic h is th e
ause humid res even more
People say this bec h o t te m p er at u
can make an important thing
vapor in the air, ar e. H u m id it y is
already climate as well
unbearable than they b o th w ea th er an d
se it affects
to understand becau
ange.
as global climate ch
er
o u t re la ti v e h umidity in weath
eard ab e air relative to
You've probably h w at er v ap o r in th
amount o f way: if you
reports. This is the in k ab o u t it th is
what the air can a
ctually hold. Th cu p contains 50% o f
f w at er , th e
half-full o
have a cup that is
can hold. A ir w o rks the same way.
what it
ai r ca n h o ld m ore water than
It's important to k
now that warm n t temperatures, are,
r h av in g d if fe re
~old air. You can
think o f ai Je ss w ater than larger
cu p s h o ld
hke different size
cups. Smaller le r cup and warm ai
r is
ld ai r is a sm al
case co
cups, right? In this '
a larger cup.
47
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~ l l \\lt L II 1 . . 'l; l·1t1Vl:
111 1
.
· . . .1 1i wJ1c1 1 ' . . This ,s .
because we have lt u,P tll)1 (1
pro d1tLL • :· . . 11 cr ~111 . I .
.. ·1,,t,r ,11 w,111
) (: 0
,, :ttLt , , .
.
, . v·ii101 1c ,
. •hti vc tow wt t1 w a,r can I" I lh
I ,va1c 1 ' ,u ,1
the a111ot1t1I Ll \J .

~ you have two cups, one th at c·

cxa1n pIe.
Let's look at an ( . and one that can hold a tnax itnan f
. f I ? ounce 5
a 111ax11nu111
N w put six
° - . .
ounces of wate r m each cup and ·
,,,u~
24 ounces. 0 . cup is fuller than the large r' cup y(
· ti t the sma11 et .
nottce 1a the same amount of water m them.
,e
though they have
How full the cup is, relates to. how much the cup can ~'
overa II WI1en We apply this to air, we can . .
see that for the sa
. t
.t f water vapor, the relative hutn1d1ty will be higher r-
amoun o ld . . 'fu
cold air than for warm air because the co atr ts Iler' than
warm air for the same amount of water.

When air becomes saturated, this means that it contains t

maximum amount of water vapor possible. Just like relati
humidity differs with different air temperatures, saturation
also temperature-dependent.

Remember our cups from before? Saturation occurs when m

cups are completely full of water. Just like the smaller cup necl
less water to become full , cold air becomes saturated from I~
water than it takes to saturate warm air. And just like if you k~
filling the cups even though they were already full , the wau
would have to go somewhere, so it would spill out over the ct
and fill the surrounding area.

Dew .is . formed wh

he air 1s saturated en
tfull
water condenses at ground level becat1
· JUS t 1·k
1 e the water spills over
the · 0 f tl
side
cup,
build when air is satu ra ted, the excess water 'spill . s over' a1
s up on leaves c
surrounded b h ' ars, bu1·id·mgs or anything else that
Y t e saturated air.
 Urnrne A
rnrnara
,, which sa turati o
. 1 ·r"·l'tlrt·. tltl' lL'lllPLTHlur~ HI
.11
, l • , 11 occ urs j s
·. tht' dt'" ptunt . 't ou most commonly sec dew in th e . ca 1!ed
· ht·cm i~t· 11ir tl'lll(K'ratu rc g oes down overn ight. And re morning
l'llld :,ir ~a n't hold as much water. There's simpl member,
. , - , i
rtHHll. ~t) ,t :--pt 11 s over as c cw. Y not enOu gh

' tntt'rt·~tingl y._ thi s san1e condensation process occurs in the sk

\ but when . thts happens. clouds are created . Clouds are water Y,
· cond~nsat10n above ground level due to air saturation.
So when
. you. see . the condensation on your patio fumi·tu rem · the
nH)rnmg. this 1s dew . However, when you see it floating b
"·hitc. pu f·t·y sl1ape 111
. t I1e s ky, t h.1s 1s
. a cloud! y as a
, Until this point of tin1e, we talked about the three states of
matter and the phase change that takes place between them. Of
late. scientists have discovered other forms of matter like plasma
4U1d Bose - Einstein condensate.

Plasmais a hot ionized gas consisting of approximately equal

numbers of positively charged ions and negatively charged
electrons. It occw·s naturally in lightning. Artificially, we create
plasma in fluorescent light bulbs and plasma TVs.

Of the five states matter can be in, the Bose-Einstein condensate

is perhaps the most mysterious. Solids, liquids, gases and
plasma were all well studied for decades but Bose-Einstein
condensates weren't created in the laboratory until the 1990s.

A Bose-Einstein condensate is a group of atoms cooled to

temperatures very close to absolute zero (-273 .15 °C). When
they reach that temperature the atoms are hardly moving relative
to each other; they have almost no free energy to do so. At that
point, the atoms begin to clump together, and enter the _same
energy states. They become identical, from a physical pomt of
v_iew, and the whole group starts behaving as though it were a
single atom.

4()
 O:iily Li\'~:-
1 he Physi(S111 our • . .
. tein condensat e, scientists start
Bose-Ems . .
To make a The diffusion 1s a net n1overn \vi\
.tfuse gas ent of
cloud of d1 • highly concentrated regio at
d .
les from In other wor s, It 1s the rn . n t
or mo Iecu . o
f10n region. . I ovetn
concentra 1 frmn high chem1ca potential re . en
atoms or rnolecu es tt'al reaion. After taking the d~Ifon to
· I poten b 1 fu
low chern1~a d d state where kinetic energy is greaterse Jr
h · g a d1sor ere ' . •h
avm
the . 1enet·gy' they cool wit 1aser •beams totake at ,1
potent1a
1t
fi th atoms. When .a norma 1gas 1s cooled to
energy rom e ·d .c b extre 0
1
its so 1 1orm
temperature, 1•t converts into . l 'k .d ut the dis Otde ~'
diffuse gas doesn't form a lattice t e a so1t . :

Instead, the atoms fall into the same quantum_ states, and can't ~
distinguished from one another. ~t th~t poi~t ~e atoms 81 :
obeying what are called Bose-E1nste1n statistics, which
usually applied to particles you can't tell apart, such as photoru :

There are five states of matter.

But only three of the1n seriously matter.
We name the1n solid, liquid and gas.
On their fingertips, the whole universe dance.
They change their form and shapes
like a chameleon changing the hues of it drapes.
The other two types of matter very less known.
We have mastered them today on our own.