How many states of matter are there?
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
How many states of matter are there?
I'm getting a bit confused... I know of 5 states of matter, but I've heard of others, but have never been able to confirm their existence. Can anybody help here?
I know of
1. Bose-Einstein Condensation
2. Solid
3. Liquid
4. Gas
5. Plasma
6. Quasi-crystal? (Got this off a questionable site...)
I know of
1. Bose-Einstein Condensation
2. Solid
3. Liquid
4. Gas
5. Plasma
6. Quasi-crystal? (Got this off a questionable site...)
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Depends on the substance. Phase has a very specific definition that for the life of me I have forgotten (it has been a while since P-chem). However the hallmark of a phase is in the changes. Distinct changes in phase occur in a whack pressure/temperature/concentration dependance. As in a minute change in temperature will result in complete coversion to one phase if you are at equilibrium.
Water has Gas, liquid, super-critical fluid, Ice I, Ice II, Ice III, Ice V, Ice VI - XI (Ice IV is metastable and not a true state, as is Ice XII). Add to that the exotics (things requiring more than a bigass piston and good temperature control). Or we could always look at Sulphur.
Mixed phases are also possible. For instance aqueous salt is a distinct phase. Each additional component adds 1 degree of freedom and at least one additional state.
Water has Gas, liquid, super-critical fluid, Ice I, Ice II, Ice III, Ice V, Ice VI - XI (Ice IV is metastable and not a true state, as is Ice XII). Add to that the exotics (things requiring more than a bigass piston and good temperature control). Or we could always look at Sulphur.
Mixed phases are also possible. For instance aqueous salt is a distinct phase. Each additional component adds 1 degree of freedom and at least one additional state.
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Solid state is a very general term: it includes lots of different crystalline states, vetrous, amporphus (sp?).
Also consider liquid crystals, a kind of intermediate stae between liquid and crystalline.
And the superfluid (?) state, like when helium is cooled below 2 degrees KKelvin.
And very probably something I don't recall or I flatly don't know.
Also consider liquid crystals, a kind of intermediate stae between liquid and crystalline.
And the superfluid (?) state, like when helium is cooled below 2 degrees KKelvin.
And very probably something I don't recall or I flatly don't know.
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I also read in this months Scientific American that extreme magnetic fields also does wierd things to matter... stretching it into long chains. Although, I don't know if this would be classified as a different phase, especially since nobody has witnessed such matter.
Also at the heart of neutron stars, it is theorized that the core is "quark matter" ... which I believe *would* be another phase.
Also at the heart of neutron stars, it is theorized that the core is "quark matter" ... which I believe *would* be another phase.
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I like to think that neutronium and quark matter are all superfluidic states, the magnetic twisting you speak of is still solid if I read that right.Zoink wrote:I also read in this months Scientific American that extreme magnetic fields also does wierd things to matter... stretching it into long chains. Although, I don't know if this would be classified as a different phase, especially since nobody has witnessed such matter.
Also at the heart of neutron stars, it is theorized that the core is "quark matter" ... which I believe *would* be another phase.
We could get really pedantic and say that each element is a different state of matter, in a way it is, but I think the 6 ones I mentioned are the key primary states (bar Slush Puppy, that's unidentified).
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Depends on how you define states.
However, you could probably simplify all of them into the two categories of solid (which is actually a very rare state in the universe, as strange as that may seem to us) and fluid (which includes liquids and gases and Bose-Einstein condensates and just about every other damned thing including atomic nuclei).
However, you could probably simplify all of them into the two categories of solid (which is actually a very rare state in the universe, as strange as that may seem to us) and fluid (which includes liquids and gases and Bose-Einstein condensates and just about every other damned thing including atomic nuclei).
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Yeah but you know us science guys can't have only two categories, then normal folk will understand our secret of making things too technobabble to understand without a degree.Darth Wong wrote:Depends on how you define states.
However, you could probably simplify all of them into the two categories of solid (which is actually a very rare state in the universe, as strange as that may seem to us) and fluid (which includes liquids and gases and Bose-Einstein condensates and just about every other damned thing including atomic nuclei).
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Well biologists sure love to pidgeon hole everything and slap a name on every last little thing. Chromosomes, chromatin, chromatids. Three different names for the same shit in different stages of the cell cycle.Admiral Valdemar wrote:Yeah but you know us science guys can't have only two categories, then normal folk will understand our secret of making things too technobabble to understand without a degree.
Back on topic, where do things like "liquid crystal" fit in?
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Don't be ridiculous. According to cosmologists, if it's not a gas, it's a metal.Admiral Valdemar wrote:Yeah but you know us science guys can't have only two categories, then normal folk will understand our secret of making things too technobabble to understand without a degree.Darth Wong wrote:Depends on how you define states.
However, you could probably simplify all of them into the two categories of solid (which is actually a very rare state in the universe, as strange as that may seem to us) and fluid (which includes liquids and gases and Bose-Einstein condensates and just about every other damned thing including atomic nuclei).
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