Science - Changing States

Solids Liquids and Gases:

• Solids are hard and have a fixed shape and fixed volume.
• Liquids have a fixed volume. They are runny and can be poured.
• Gases go not have a fixed shape or fixed volume. They take the shape of their container. They can be squashed easily.

Everything is made of Particles: 

• In a solid, the particles are very close and in a neat pattern.
• In a liquid, the particles are slightly further apart and have a less regular pattern.
• In a gas, the particles are far apart and have no pattern at all.

Solids and liquids are denser than gases.

Particles move faster when they are heated. They slow down when they are cooled.

A solid melts because the particles move away from each other.

A liquid evaporates because the particles move around on their own.

A solute is a substance that dissolves in a liquid called a solvent. The particles in the solute break apart and mix with the particles in the solvent.

• The mixture of solute dissolved in solvent is called a solution.
• Different solutes dissolve in different solvents.