General Characteristics of Gases, Liquids, and Solids

Energy and Phase Changes Heating Curves Vapor Pressure Phase Diagrams The Solid State 

Occasionally, plasma, the gaseous mixture of ions and electrons that exists at extremely high temperatures, is classified as a fourth state of matter. Because it is irrelevant to our discussion, we are limiting the topic to the three clearly recognized states. 

Solids are neither fluid nor compressible. The particles in a soUd, which might be atoms, molecules, or ions, depending on the material, are tightly packed together into a rigid structure. The movements in a solid are limited to oscillations, or vibrations. Solids will maintain their shape without a container. 

In the previous chapter, you looked at the van der Waals equation as a way of taking into account the sizes of particles as well as molecular attractions. In this chapter, these properties become even more important in the consideration of liquids and solids. 

you will recall from Chapter 8, are characterized by particles that are free to move about in constant, random, straight-line motion. Under normal 

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