Why can air be compressed but liquids can’t?
In: Physics
Liquid can and does compress, but water is particularly bad at it because it’s a highly polar molecule.
Gasses are more compressible, in general, because the moleculed within them have greater degrees of freedom.
Imagine trying to tell a group of people to squish together.
Gas is like having a room with 10 people in it and telling them to get closer.
Liquids are like having the same size room with 100 people in it and telling them to get closer.
Water is like having the same size room with 100 people, but none of them use deodorant and they all hate each other.
And since we’re on the subject, solids are like the same size room with anywhere from 100-1,000 people but they all have to stand in a certain place and if you make them squish the room breaks and the people fly off in different directions.
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