The three phases of matter

All materials are gaseous at sufficiently high temperatures and all condense into liquids as the temperature is lowered. In addition, all except helium form solids under their own vapour pressure as the temperature is lowered still further. Condensation indicates that there must be attractive forces between the basic particles to make them cohere, though this force must become 

From these two projections it can be seen that for all temperatures above known as the critical temperature, the substance remains in the gaseous phase, whatever the value of the applied pressure. 

At temperatures and below it is always possible to produce a liquid or a solid phase of the substance by the application of pressure. The production of liquid or solid from the gaseous phase is called condensation, and liquids and solids are referred to as condensed phases. When the temperature of the substance is the triple-point temperature Tt, condensation from the gaseous phase produces both liquid and solid so that, along the horizontal portion of the isotherm in the p-V plot, solid, liquid and gas coexist in equilibrium. For temperatures in the range T T T condensation from the vapour phase is to the liquid phase and the application of sufficient pressure in this temperature range results in 

The mobility of the particles in a liquid prevents a regular three-dimensional arrangement from being set up, and yet the density and compressibility requirements indicate that the environment of any particle cannot be very different whether it be in the solid or liquid phase. These considerations suggest that a liquid may be pictured as an assembly of small clusters of particles that are randomly oriented with respect to each other. Crudely, a liquid may be pictured as a very broken-up solid, and X-ray diffraction patterns from simple liquids do show the same essential features as those obtained from finely powdered solids, but are more blurred, a consequence of the smallness of the solid-like clusters and their transient nature. 

A simple calculation shows that, for a model gas made up of point particles, each of mass m and exerting zero attractive forces on the other particles (known as an ideal gas), the pressure p exerted by the gas is given by  

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Matter can also be categorized into three distinct phases solid, liquid, and gas. An object that is solid has a definite shape and volume that cannot be changed easily. Trees, automobiles, ice, and coffee mugs are all in the solid phase. Matter that is liquid has a definite volume but changes shape quite easily. A liquid flows to take on the shape of its container. Gasoline, water, and cooking oil are examples of common liquids. Solids and liquids are termed condensed phases because of their well-defined volumes. A gas has neither specific shape nor constant volume. A gas expands or contracts as its container expands or contracts. Helium balloons are filled with helium gas, and the Earth s atmosphere is made up of gas that flows continually from place to place. Molecular pictures that illustrate the three phases of matter appear in Figure 1-12. 

Particles whose dimensions are between 1 nanometer and 1 micrometer, called colloids, are larger than the t3/pical molecule but smaller than can be seen under an optical microscope. When a colloid is mixed with a second substance, the colloid can become uniformly spread out, or dispersed, throughout the dispersing medium. Such a dispersion is a colloidal suspension that has properties intermediate between those of a true solution and those of a heterogeneous mixture. As Table 12-3 demonstrates, colloidal suspensions can involve nearly any combination of the three phases of matter. Gas-gas mixtures are the exception, because any gas mixes uniformly with any other gas to form a true solution. 

Chemical reactions may result from interactions among and between the three phases of matter solid, liquid, and gas. The major interactions that occur in the deep-well environment are those between different liquids (injected waste with reservoir fluids) and those between liquids and solids (injected wastes and reservoir fluids with reservoir rock). Although gases may exist, they are usually dissolved in liquid at normal deep-well pressures. 

Figure 1. Chemical potentials of the three phases of matter (H, Q, and Q ), as defined by Eq. (2) as a function of the total pressure (left panel) and energy density of the H- and Q-phase as a function of the baryon number density (right panel). The hadronic phase is described with the GM3 model whereas for the Q and Q phases is employed the MIT-like bag model with ms = 150 MeV, B = 152.45 MeV/fm3 and as = 0. The vertical lines arrows on the right panel indicate the beginning and the end of the mixed hadron-quark phase defined according to the Gibbs criterion for phase equilibrium. On the left panel P0 denotes the static transition point.

Now that we ve looked at the three phases of matter individually, let s take an overall view. As noted previously, any one phase of matter can change spontaneously into either of the other two, depending on the temperature and pressure. 

Figure 1.2 The arrangements and motions of particles in the three phases of matter.

Now we shall turn our attention to the other thermodynamic parameter, namely AS. Entropy is a measure of the disorder of the system the greater the disorder, the more the system is favoured. In other words, chaos is the favoured state of things, and to introduce order requires energy. For the three phases of matter, suggest which is the most disordered and which is the least. 

A. J. Walton, Three Phases of Matter, Oxford Science Pubhcations, New York, 1983. [Both Tabor s book and Walton s book provide comprehensive introductory material on the three phases of matter.]... 

In my opinion. Titan is the best candidate in our solar system for the presence of extraterrestrial life because it has the three phases of matter flowing into each other. In fact, we may already have evidence in hand that life exists there, although from this far away, it s hard to tell. 

Venus, Mars, and Titan show what can go wrong. Earth s success was also due to what went right. On Earth, the three phases of matter were preserved by five shields two... 

The three phases of matter — solid, liquid and gas — are the result of competition between the internal energy and the intermolecular forces of a large assembly of molecules. It is this competition which determines whether a given substance, under given conditions, is a solid, liquid or gas. 

The three phases of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. A solid has a fixed shape and volume. A liquid has a fixed volume but is not rigid in shape it takes the shape of its container. A gas has neither a fixed volume nor a shape. It takes on both the shape and the volume of its container. 

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