What kind of volume does a liquid have

In the solid state, the individual particles of a substance are in fixed positions with respect to each other because there is not enough thermal energy to overcome the intermolecular interactions between the particles. As a result, solids have a definite shape and volume. Most solids are hard, but some like waxes are relatively soft. Many solids composed of ions can also be quite brittle. Mercury can be solidified when its temperature is brought to its freezing point. However, when returned to room temperature conditions, mercury does not exist in solid state for long, and returns back to its more common liquid form.

Solids usually have their constituent particles arranged in a regular, three-dimensional array of alternating positive and negative ions called a crystal. Glass is one example of an amorphous solid.

If the particles of a substance have enough energy to partially overcome intermolecular interactions, then the particles can move about each other while remaining in contact. This describes the liquid state. In a liquid, the particles are still in close contact, so liquids have a definite volume. However, because the particles can move about each other rather freely, a liquid has no definite shape and takes a shape dictated by its container.

A familiar liquid is mercury metal. Mercury is an anomaly. Because the particles in liquids are very close together barely further apart than in solids liquids do not easily compress, so their volume is fixed. Gases can also flow, so occupy the shape of their whole container. They do not have a fixed shape. Because the particles in gases are much further apart than in liquids or solids, they can be squeezed closer together.

Gases therefore can be compressed or expanded. They do not have a fixed volume. I will ask the students to look at what happens to the Goop when it is in the cup.

Tell one person in each group to drive their finger straight down into the Goop. Then have them slowly push their finger into the mixture. Is there a difference? I will bring around straws, toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, newspaper to test if it picks up newsprint. Let students experiment for a few more minutes. In a whole group again, I will show the students a sample of Goop in a plastic bag and ask them how it looks. They should tell me that it forms to the bag, which is a property of a liquid.

Talk about what the students observed during their exploration. Ask them:. Ask the students how Goop compares to its original ingredients. Look over the states of matter charts again and compare them with the Goop web. Ask them what state of matter that they think Goop fits under.

Have the students explain their answers. Students will write a journal entry about Goop. They must say how Goop acts like a state of matter. They must also write one other interesting thing about Goop.

It forms to the cup. Science Process Skills:. The hands-on learning portion of this lesson was amazing to witness. Students were given a substance, Goop, which has properties of a solid and a liquid. The students were enthralled by the substance.

They experimented in ways that I had not even thought of. It was very meaningful to the students to be able to touch and manipulate the Goop in any way that they chose. They did not just follow direct instructions from me, but discovered the Goop individually and were able to draw their own conclusions.

During the discovery portion of the lesson, I should have talked to each group about what they were discovering about the Goop. I should have asked them questions that would further their understanding of the concepts that I wanted them to get from studying Goop. I should have taken notes about what the students said to me about Goop, so that I could recall it later in the colloquium. I also could have tried to make this portion of the lesson more "science related".

Matter and Change. Search for:. Explain differences among these three phases of matter. Figure 2. Summary Three states of matter exist — solid, liquid, and gas. Solids have a definite shape and volume. Liquids have a definite volume, but take the shape of the container. Gases have no definite shape or volume. Which material is a solid at room temperature? Which material is a liquid at room temperature?