Name

CHAPTER 2

Class

Date

States of Matter

1 Three States of Matter

SECTION

BEFORE YOU READ

National Science
Education Standards

After you read this section, you should be able to answer

these questions:

PS 1a

What is matter made of?

What are the three most common states of matter?
How do particles behave in each state of matter?

What Are the Three States of Matter?

Have you ever had a steaming hot bowl of soup and an
ice cold drink for lunch? The three most common states
of matter are found in this lunch. The soup and the drink
are made of water. However, the water exists in three different forms. The soup and the drink are liquids. The ice
is a solid. The steam from the soup is a gas.
The substance is the same whether it is a solid, a liquid, or a gas. The substance is just in a different form,
or state. The states of matter are the physical forms of
a substance. The three well-known states of matter are
solid, liquid, and gas.
Matter is made up of very tiny particles. These particles are called atoms and molecules. Atoms and molecules act differently in each state of matter. We cannot
see atoms and molecules, but they are always moving.
How fast they move depends on the state they are in. The
figure below describes the three states of matter and how
particles act in each state.

STUDY TIP
Describe Write a short
description of a solid, a
liquid, and a gas. Include
the motions of the particles
and how the motion affects
volume and shape.

READING CHECK
1. Dene What are states of
matter?

Models of a Solid, a Liquid, and a Gas

TAKE A LOOK

Particles of a solid
have a strong attraction
between them. The
particles are closely
locked in position and
only vibrate.

Particles of a liquid are

more loosely connected
than those of a solid
and can move past one
another.

Particles of a gas
move fast enough that
they overcome the
attractions between
them. The particles
move independently
and collide frequently.

2. Identify In which state do

the particles move about the
most? In which state do they
move about the least?

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States of Matter

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SECTION 1

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Three States of Matter continued

What Are the Properties of Solids?

READING CHECK
3. Describe How do the
particles of a solid move?

STANDARDS CHECK
PS 1a A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent
of the amount of the sample. A
mixture of substances often can
be separated into the original
substances using one or more of
the characteristic properties.

4. Identify How are the

particles in a liquid different
from the particles in a solid?

Any solid material, such as a penny, a rock, or a marble, has a specific shape and volume. For example, if you
place a solid marble into a bottle, the marbles shape and
volume stay the same. It keeps its original shape and volume no matter where it is placed. A solid is the state of
matter that has a specific shape and volume.
The particles of a solid are very close to each other.
They have a strong attraction for each other. Therefore,
the particles of a solid are locked into place. However, they
do make small movements called vibrations. Remember,
the particles of any substance are always in motion.

What Are the Properties of Liquids?

Ice cubes and liquid water are made of the same material, but they are physically very different. In solids, such
as ice cubes, particles are closely locked together and
vibrate in place. In liquids, such as liquid water, particles
are able to move more freely.
A liquid is a substance that has a specific volume, but
doesnt have a particular shape. For example, a liter of
milk takes the shape of its container. The same liter of
milk will take the shape of a bowl it is poured into. The
shape of the milk changes. The volume of the milk stays
the same. This is seen in the figure below with the juice.
In a liquid, the particles move fast enough to overcome
their attraction to each other. As a result, they can move
or slide past each other, even though they always stay
close together. In liquids, we know that the particles can
move past each other because liquids can change shape.

Although their shapes are

different, the beaker and
the graduated cylinder each
contain 355 mL of juice.

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States of Matter

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SECTION 1

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Three States of Matter continued

THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF LIQUIDS

Liquids have special properties that the other states of

matter do not have. One special property of liquids is surface tension. Surface tension is a force that acts on the
particles at the surface of a liquid. Water has a high surface
tension, causing it to form spherical or oval-shaped drops.
You may have seen beads of water on an object. Each liquid
has a different amount of surface tension. Gasoline has a
low surface tension and forms flat drops.
Another special property of liquids is viscosity.
Viscosity is a liquids resistance to flow. Liquids that are
sticky usually have a high viscosity. The particles in
these liquids have a strong attraction for each other. For
example, honey flows more slowly than water. So the viscosity of honey is greater than that of water.

What Are the Properties of Gases?

The properties of a gas are different from the properties of other states of matter. A gas has no specific shape
or volume. All gases take on the shape of the container
they are put in. This is because their particles have little
attraction for each other.
A gas that you might know about is helium. Helium is the
gas that is used to fill birthday balloons. When the helium is in
the tank, the particles are close to each other. As the helium
particles fill a balloon, they spread out. So the amount of
space between the helium particles in the balloon increases.

READING CHECK
5. Describe What is surface
tension?

Critical Thinking
6. Apply Concepts Put
the following in order from
lowest to highest viscosity:
syrup, water, and cream.

TAKE A LOOK

7. Describe What happens to

the space between particles
when helium moves from the
tank into the balloon?

Many balloons can be filled from one tank

of helium because the particles of helium
gas in a balloon are far apart.

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States of Matter

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Section 1 Review

NSES

PS 1a

SECTION VOCABULARY
gas a form of matter that does not have a
denite volume or shape
liquid the state of matter that has a denite
volume but not a denite shape
solid the state of matter in which the volume
and shape of a substance are xed

states of matter the physical forms of matter,

which include solid, liquid, and gas
surface tension the force that acts on the
surface of a liquid and that tends to minimize
the area of the surface
viscosity the resistance of a gas or liquid to ow

1. Identify Name the three states of matter and give an example of each.

2. Identify What is one property that all particles of matter have in common?

3. Compare How are the particles of a liquid different from the particles of a solid?

4. Compare How are the particles of a liquid different from the particles of a gas?

5. Identify What property of water causes it to form beads on the leaves of the plants?

6. Describe Indicate how the shape and volume of each state of matter are different.
State of matter

Denite shape

Denite volume

solid
liquid

no

gas

no

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States of Matter

Introduction to Matter Answer Key continued

4. Gasolineits properties match the proper5.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Review
1. Solid: brick, penny, ice cube

ties in the table.

a change that produces a new substance
its bad smell
The cake has different properties than its
ingredients do.
color change, change in texture, odor given
off, heat absorbed or released
A new substance is not made.
chemical changes

2.
3.

4.

Review
1. A chemical property of a substance

5.
6.

describes the chemical change that can happen to the substance.

2. When a substance reacts, it changes into
a new substance. For the property to be a
physical property, the substance must be the
same after it has undergone the change.
3. heat
4. Type of change
Description of change
Chemical

rusting

Physical

boiling

Physical

freezing

Chemical

burning

Denite shape

Denite
volume

Solid

yes

yes

Liquid

no

yes

Gas

no

no

1. a measure of how fast the particles of an

object are moving

2. when it is heated
3. Temperature of Energy of gas

given off, heat absorbed or liberated

6. Chemical changea color change indicates
that a chemical change has taken place.
7. Heat felt above the flame: chemical change
Smoke: chemical change
Melted wax: physical change

Chapter 2 States of Matter

Volume of gas
particles

gas particles

particles

1) 20C

Particles have
the smallest
amount of
energy.

Volume is
smallest.

2) 50C

Particles have
more energy
than at 20C,
but not as much
as at 80C.

Volume is larger
than at 20C but
smaller than at
80C.

3) 80C

Particles have the

largest amount of
energy.

Volume is
largest.

4. the amount of force that is put on an area

5. temperature and pressure
6. It is one-third as much.

SECTION 1 THREE STATES OF MATTER

1. the physical forms of a substance
2. They move about the most in the gas state

6.
7.

State of matter

SECTION 2 BEHAVIOR OF GASES

5. a color change, a change in texture, an odor

3.
4.
5.

Liquid: water, milk, soda, oil

Gas: air, oxygen, water vapor
They are always moving.
The particles of a liquid can move past one
another, but the particles of a solid stay in
fixed positions.
The particles of a gas can move far away
from one another, but the particles of a liquid stay close to one another.
surface tension

7. It is one-half as much.

and the least in the solid state.

They vibrate.
They move past each other.
a force that acts on the particles at the surface of a liquid
water, cream, syrup
There is more space between particles.

Review
1. temperature, volume, and pressure
2. The balloon goes from a warm temperature

in the house to a cold temperature outside.

The volume of the balloon will decrease
outside because the gas particles move more
slowly and exert less pressure. The air particles in the balloon take up less space.
3. 9 L; according to Charless law, at constant
pressure, volume is directly related to temperature.

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Introduction to Matter