Agua

STATES OF MATTER
There are five main states of matter. Solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and Bose-Einstein condensates are all different states of matter. Each of these states is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to another phase when special physical forces are present. One example of those forces is temperature. The phase or state of matter can change whenthe temperature changes. Generally, as the temperature rises, matter moves to a more active state.
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Phase describes a physical state of matter. The key word to notice is physical. Things only move from one phase to another by physical means. If energy is added (like increasing the temperature or increasing pressure) or if energy is taken away (like freezing something or decreasing pressure)you have created a physical change.

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One compound or element can move from phase to phase, but still be the same substance. You can see water vapor over a boiling pot of water. That vapor (or gas) can condense and become a drop of water. If you put that drop in the freezer, it would become a solid. No matter what phase it was in, it was always water. It always had the same chemicalproperties. On the other hand, a chemical change would change the way the water acted, eventually making it not water, but something completely new.

SOLID BASICS
So what is a solid? Solids are usually hard because their molecules have been packed together. The closer your molecules are, the harder you are. Solids also can hold their own shape. A rock will always look like a rock unless somethinghappens to it. The same goes for a diamond. Even when you grind up a solid into a powder, you will see little tiny pieces of that solid under a microscope. Liquids will move and fill up any container. Solids like their shape.

In the same way that a solid holds its shape, the atoms inside of a solid are not allowed to move around too much. This is one of the physical characteristics of solids.Atoms and molecules in liquids and gases are bouncing and floating around, free to move where they want. The molecules in a solid are stuck. The atoms still spin and the electrons fly around, but the entire atom will not change position.

Solids can be made up of many things. They can have pure elements or a variety of compounds inside. When you get more than one type of compound in a solid it iscalled a mixture. Most rocks are mixtures of many different compounds. Concrete is a good example of a manmade mixture.

CRYSTALS
On the other end of the spectrum from a mixture is something called a crystal. When a solid is made up of a pure substance and forms slowly, it can become a crystal. Not all pure substances form crystals because it is a delicate process. The atoms are arranged in aregular repeating pattern called a cystal lattice. A crystal lattice is a very exact organization of atoms. A good example is carbon. A diamond is a perfect crystal lattice while the graphite arrangement is more random.

LIQUID BASICS
The second state of matter we will discuss is a liquid. Solids are hard things you can hold. Gases are floating around you and in bubbles. What is a liquid? Wateris a liquid. Your blood is a liquid. Liquids are an in-between state of matter. They can be found in between the solid and gas states. They don't have to be made up of the same compounds. If you have a variety of materials in a liquid, it is called a solution.

One characteristic of a liquid is that it will fill up the shape of a container. If you pour some water in a cup, it will fill up thebottom of the cup first and then fill the rest. The water will also take the shape of the cup. It fills the bottom first because of gravity. The top part of a liquid will usually have a flat surface. That flat surface is because of gravity too. Putting an ice cube (solid) into a cup will leave you with a cube in the middle of the cup; the shape won't change until the ice becomes a liquid....