L1 - Solids, Liquids and Gases

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objectives

1. Understand the three states of matter in terms of the arrangement, movement and energy of the particles

Everything is made of Particles

Made of particles

Rock, air, and water look very different. But they have one big thing in common: they are all made of very tiny pieces, far too small to see.

For the moment, we will call these pieces particles. In fact everything around you is made of particles – and so are you!

Particles on the move

In rock and other solids, the particles are not free to move around. But in liquids and gases, they move freely. As they move they collide with each other, and bounce off in all directions.

So the path of one particle, in a liquid or gas, could look like this:

Evidence for Particles

There is evidence all around you that things are made of particles, and that they move around in liquids and gases. Look at these examples:

1 Cooking smells can spread out into the street. This is because ‘smells’ are caused by gas particles mixing with, and moving through, the air. They dissolve in moisture in the lining of your nose.

2 You often see dust and smoke dancing in the air, in bright sunlight. The dust and smoke are clusters of particles. They dance around because they are being bombarded by tiny particles in the air.

states of matter

The kinetic particle theory explains the properties of the different states of matter

The particles in solids, liquids and gases have different amounts of energy

They are arranged differently and move in different ways

Activity 1 - States of matter

Split your page into three

Solid
Liquid
Gas

Write as much as you can for each of the three states of matter

Give Examples
Explain the Arrangement of particles
How much energy does each state have?

solids

•Particles very close together, no space to move into

•Regular arrangement

•Particles vibrate on the spot

•Fixed shape, cannot flow

•Particles cannot move from place to place, very strong forces hold them in place

•Cannot be compressed or squashed

•Dense

•Low energy

Liquids

•Particles are close together

•Random arrangement

•Particles move around each other

•Can flow and take the shape of their container

•The particles can move around each other

•Forces between particles are less effective

•Liquids cannot be compressed or squashed

•Quite dense

•Particles have more energy

gases

•Particles far apart

•Random arrangement

•Particles move quickly in all directions

•Gases flow and completely fill their container

•No forces of attraction between particles

•Gases can be compressed or squashed

•The particles are far apart and have space to move into

•Very low densities

•Particles have lots of energy

Arrangement of particles

activity 2 - venn diagram

Think about what solids, liquids and gases all have in common

Draw a Venn diagram for solids, liquids and gases

Watch the below Video to revise states of matter so far:

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