Why are the shifts between phases of matter so sudden? Why aren’t there transitional phases?
In: Chemistry
Ok so. Solid, liquid and gas are the 3 phases, right? (Let’s ignore plasma for now).
These different phases don’t change anything about the matter itself.
For example, let’s take water, or, H2O.
Solid (ice), Liquid (water), and Gas (Water vapors) all have the same formula, H2O. 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen joined by covalent bonds.
Matter, or atoms/molecules move faster the more energy they have.
So, the higher the temperature, the more energy they possess.
Let’s say you take ice out of the freezer and place it in room temperature. This is high enough for the H2O molecules to get so energized that they can move far away from each other, far enough to become liquid, and if you notch things up to 100 degrees Celsius, they can move so far apart we have to call them a gas.
So, to answer your question, yes there are transition phases. You can consider liquid to be the transition phase between solid and gas.
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