States of Matter - Introduction

States of matter

Anything around us that has mass and takes space is called Matter

Matter can be available as one of three states

Solid

Liquid 

and Gases

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.

Diagram of particle arrangement and movement

The table below summarizes the arrangement and movement of the particles in solids, liquids and gases, and shows simple diagrams for the arrangement of the particles.

Solids

The table shows some of the properties of solids and why they are like this.

Property	Why
Solids have a fixed shape and cannot flow	The particles cannot move from place to place
Solids cannot be compressed or squashed	The particles are close together and have no space to move into

Liquids

The table shows some of the properties of liquids and why they are like this.

Property	Why
Liquids flow and take the shape of their container	The particles can move around each other
Liquids cannot be compressed or squashed	The particles are close together and have no space to move into

Gases

The table shows some of the properties of gases and why they are like this.

Property	Why
Gases flow and completely fill their container	The particles can move quickly in all directions
Gases can be compressed or squashed Take A Quiz here	The particles are far apart and have space to move