My son, second grade, is doing states of matter. We were trying to help him label different examples for solid, liquids, and gasses. In his science textbook, it mentions that you can’t see a gas and that steam is a liquid because it’s just water suspended in the air, but on his worksheet, by a different source, has fog and smoke as an example of a gas. I’ve always thought of smoke as a gas on a base level. I understand that there are particles being suspended in the air that you can see, but can someone help the states of matter so I can help my son with his homework.
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> it mentions that you can’t see a gas and that steam is a liquid because it’s just water suspended in the air
Incorrect on all counts. Some gasses are easier to see than others though; for example chlorine gas is a greenish yellow in color. Steam is not a liquid, it is a gas, however when it is condensed into a visible cloud it is tiny droplets of liquid water which you see. The actual steam itself is transparent.
> his worksheet, by a different source, has fog and smoke as an example of a gas.
Those are also both wrong. The fog is tiny droplets of liquid water not a gas, and smoke is composed of tiny solid particulate. Neither of them is a gas.
Ultimately the issue is that your son’s educational material is garbage. My suggestion is to meet with his teacher and talk about the technical accuracy of his education, or he will end up like most everyone else these days with fundamental misconceptions about basic science.
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