can something exist in more than one “state” at the same time without changing composition? Ie can a single drop of water technically be a solid, gas and liquid at the same time?

Question

Further to that, can something exist in 4 states (solid, liquid, gas, plasma)?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Can a substance exist in three states at the same time? Yes. It is called the triple point of a substance. It’s only at a specific pressure and temperature and usually, not ambient conditions.

There’s a nice gif of water boiling at 0 C on the wikipedia article about the triple point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_point

As for plasma as well as the other three, that’s one I don’t know. Educated guess would be: unlikely for a pure susbtance.