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14: Solids and Liquids

  • Page ID
    178199
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    In Chapter 6, we discussed the properties of gases. Here, we consider some properties of liquids and solids. As a review, the Table below lists some general properties of the three phases of matter.

    Phase Shape Density Compressibility
    Gas fills entire container low high
    Liquid fills a container from bottom to top high low
    Solid rigid high low

    • 14.1: Prelude to Solids and Liquids
      Liquids flow when a small force is placed on them, even if only very slowly. Solids, however, may deform under a small force, but they return to their original shape when the force is relaxed. This is how glass behaves: it goes back to its original shape (unless it breaks under the applied force). Observers also point out that telescopes with glass lenses to focus light still do so even decades after manufacture-a circumstance that would not be so if the lens were liquid and flowed.
    • 14.2: Intermolecular Forces
      All substances experience dispersion forces between their particles. Substances that are polar experience dipole-dipole interactions. Substances with covalent bonds between an H atom and N, O, or F atoms experience hydrogen bonding. The preferred phase of a substance depends on the strength of the intermolecular force and the energy of the particles.
    • 14.3: Phase Transitions - Melting, Boiling, and Subliming
      Phase changes can occur between any two phases of matter. All phase changes occur with a simultaneous change in energy. All phase changes are isothermal.
    • 14.4: Properties of Liquids
      All liquids evaporate. If volume is limited, evaporation eventually reaches a dynamic equilibrium, and a constant vapor pressure is maintained. All liquids experience surface tension, an imbalance of forces at the surface of the liquid. All liquids experience capillary action, demonstrating either capillary rise or capillary depression in the presence of other substances.
    • 14.5: Solids
      Solids can be divided into amorphous solids and crystalline solids. Crystalline solids can be ionic, molecular, covalent network, or metallic.


    14: Solids and Liquids is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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