Matters, State Of Matters - Solid Liquids & Gases

Parents Guide, How to teach solid liquid & gas

Matters - Solid, Liquids & Gases

Hey kids!

Objectives:

Get to know about matters, states of matter, and how the matter changes from one form to another

Note: I have written this article exclusively for 4 to 7 years old kids. It takes at least six days for a complete understanding of this topic.

Steps:

Observe different objects around you
Every object has different nature and characteristics
Because of their different characteristics, we can classify them as solids, liquids, and gases
Observe the different household items and classify them

What are matters?

I am trying to make your lesson interesting and useful. Today you will get to know about the matters.

Kids, look around you, you have seen many things. In our world, or our surroundings everything is matter. The whole universe is made up of matter. The matter has three different states.

Some interesting facts about matters are:

The matter is anything that occupies space
They must have mass as well
They are made up of tiny particles
Matters can change their form upon heating

Note: Tell them about mass and particles

Arrangement of particles in solid liquid and gas

States:

The three states of matter are different from each other because of the arrangement of particles. As I discussed, they are made up of tiny particles. In the next section, I will explain each type in detail.

Solid
Liquid
Gas

Solids:

In solids, particles are tightly packed. They are made up of a regular and repeating pattern. They can't break easily from the rest of the particles. Because there exists an attractive force between particles. This force keeps solid particles firmly in place. These particles are not motionless. They vibrate in their position.

Rigid
Fixed shape
Fixed volume

Liquids:

In liquids, particles are not tightly packed as in solids. There is no regular pattern or shape of liquids. That's why liquids have no shape. It takes the shape of a container. The attractive forces between the liquid particles are not like solids. These forces keep liquid particles together. Their motion is random.

They can flow or spill easily. If you touch it you will get some particles of liquid.

Not rigid
No fixed shape. Takes the shape of containers
Fixed volume

Gases:

In gases, particles are even more loosely packed than in liquids. The attractive forces between the particles are weak and can not hold them in place. That's why particles are free to roam around.

It can not be seen. For example, you can not see the air present in the balloon. But it takes up space.

Not rigid
No fixed shape
No fixed volume

Activity #1:

Take different forms of matter. I mean take different objects around you. Analyze, how each of the three states is different from each other.

Solid, liquid, and gas

Look at things around you. I have seen these things:

I see walls. Just go and touch the walls. How do you feel? They are very hard. You can't hit the wall hard. It will hurt you. They are solid.
I see a bed. Touch your bed. It feels hard as well. Isn't it? Now touch the mattress. It doesn't feel hard. You won't get hurt if you jump on it. It is solid as well.
I see a glass of water. Touch it. Don't touch the glass. Touch the water in it. How do you feel? Your hands are wet. Some water particles are on your hands.
I see baby lotion on my dresser. You can easily take some quantity of lotion.
I see baby oil on my dresser as well. You can pour some amount of baby lotion. It can easily flow out of a bottle
I see a balloon. Gas (air) is inside. If you pop the balloon all of the gas particles spread out around you.
I see a football. It also contains gas (air) in it.

Activity #2:

Take two different jars/containers, and place solid, liquid, and gas one by one. What will happen?

Difference between solid liquid and gases

Take two different containers, and observe solid remains the same in both containers

Activity#3:

Everything tends to expand upon heating

Show your kid how things expand upon heating (add energy).

You can take a chocolate bar. When it is hot, it expands. And also, it changes from the solid-liquid.

Matters can change their state:

As you have observed earlier, matter comes in three different states. Most matters can change state, depending upon the temperature. We only need to add some heat energy to a substance or cool down (remove some energy) from a substance.

How to attain different states of matter

Six processes involve in changing states of matter

Learn about different phenomena like

Melting
Freezing
Sublimation
Deposition
Condensation
Evaporation

These are simple and easy to observe and you can show them to your kids and hence increase their curiosity.

Let's understand the above terms in detail with some ideas for experiments.

Melting (Solid to liquid transition):

It means converting a solid substance into a liquid.

To melt down a substance we usually need some heat.

Some materials require less heat while others require more. For example, ice cubes melt down at room temperature. While candies remain in solid form at room temperature.

It is also not necessary, all solids change their state at higher temperatures. For example, bread can not change into liquid at atmospheric pressure.

The temperature at which the solid starts to change its state is called the melting point.

For example, ice cubes begin to melt at room temperature.

Another example is a chocolate bar, put it in the saucepan, and turn on the flame. The chocolate bar begins to melt down.

Freezing ( Liquid to solid transition):

The opposite of melting. It means to convert a liquid substance into a solid.

To turn a substance into a solid or freeze a substance we usually need to remove some energy (heat). In other words, you have to lower the temperature of that substance.

Same to the melting process, every material has a different freezing point. For example, water freezes at 0°C. While the olive oil freezes at -6°C.

The temperature at which the liquid becomes solid is called the freezing point.

For example, water freezes at 0°C.

Vaporization:

The opposite of condensation. It means the transformation of liquid into a gaseous or vapor phase.

In all phases transition phenomenon, we need to supply heat or remove heat from the system.

In this process, we need a quite high temperature to convert a liquid into a gaseous form. An easy example is water. When you start heating water, it eventually starts boiling and evaporation occurs. You can easily notice the steam coming from the water pot.

Condensation:

The opposite of vaporization. It means the transformation of gas into liquid phase.

When water vapors are cooled down, they turn into liquid.

Sublimation (Solid to gas transition):

It means to convert or transform a solid into a gas. Actually, at atmospheric pressure only 'dry ice' (solid carbon dioxide) can go through this process.

Most substances turn into liquid first (that is melting) and then turn into gas (that is evaporation). It means it is a two-step process to convert a solid into a gas. But in this process, a solid is directly converted into gas.

For sublimation, we usually need to add some heat.

Deposition (Gas to solid transition):

It is the opposite of sublimation. It means to convert or transform a gas into a solid directly. As I discussed in sublimation, conversion between solid to gas or gas to solid is a two-step process. This process also occurs only in a few substances. Example

Activity #4:

As a parent, you can demonstrate the basic science experiments at home. Water is the substance that exists in all three states and you can observe the change of states easily.