Science question(s)?

So I think I learned this in school, but by gum, I can't remember it.

So I was sat in my garden, watching some water swish around in a bird bath, thing. Here's my question: Is the water a liquid or Solid? Lol, hang on a minute, don't answer yet. So if you just removed the bird bath "magically", lets say with Photo shop, just so we can see the water remained in the same state and shape, i.e a bowl shape. Would that be solid or liquid?

I do know this, I remember learning it at school, but I just can't think straight at the moment, which should be obvious because I'm writing this stupid thread!

Anyway, is the fact that the particles are further apart that make it a liquid or is it something else? - Damn I really am bored! - Anyway, so I was thinking that if I stick my hand in the water and brake it up, that would make it a liquid, but then I thought, the original liquid from the bowl and the liquid on my hand would just form two different solids.

I have another question as well: If you take a solid, like a lump of coal and the coal rubs off on your hands, is the powdery surface a solid?

F**k me! Am I the king of stupid threads or what? I saw that empty thread and thought, I don't remember making that, then I realized I didn't

As I've already mentioned, I do know all this stuff already, I have a shallow interest in science/physics all that bollocks But today, I must've woken up on the stupid side of the bed.

First section confused me, but I can help with the 2nd section.

Yes the powdery material would still be a solid.

Did you know that the softest material known to man is Talcum Powder, as measured in the Vickers Hardness test. The hardest material is of course diamond followed very closely by Ray Winston

In answer, yes. Water is a liquid. It's a liquid which adjusts its shape in order to fill its container. Mmk? If the particles were much further apart, it would be what we call a 'gas'.

As for the coal/powder, as Rosco says, it'd be a solid. Just a lot of reeeeeeeally small ones.

Water = Liquid
Ice = Solid
Steam = Gas, unless you can see it then its water vapour, which is small bit of liquid

If you remove the bowl with photo shop then this is a photo.

Coal dust = Very small bits of solid

Best have a sit down Leevil

Quote: Britcom Barry @ August 16, 2007, 3:06 PM

If you remove the bowl with photo shop then this is a photo.

View original

*Sits down* - *Lays down* - *Dies* - *Dead*

*parties*

*Brings The Hookers*

*Undies* sorry *un-dies*

If it were life (not a picture) then the liquid would always flow to the shape of its container, which in that case would quickly become the ground.

A solid is chemically bonded in such a way as you can think of solid links between the atoms, known as covalent, ionic or mettalic bonds. In a liquid these bonds are broken in the process called melting!. This usually results in the atoms being more spread out, i.e less dense.

This is do to thermal (heat) energy breaking the bonds. The molecules/atoms dont have enough energy to whizz off into free space, that requires more energy know as boiling. Boiling gives free particals loads of energy and they go zipping everywhere in a state called 'gas'..

So in between the melting and boiling point a substance will sit as a liquid, where the atoms/molecules are not definitly bonded but they are still attracted to each other. This gives them freedom to move and flow around each other, and as such are greatly affected by gravity which will pull a liquid into the shape of its container.

IN space, liquid is a pure sphere, as this is the best shape for all the atoms to attract each other, and stay as one object.


Sand, salt, sugar etc etc are tiny grains of solids and appear to flow. However they clearly have not been melted or boiled so they only mimic the property of liquids.

A far more interesting is why does solid, dense ice float on liquid water?

Hey thanks for that Loopey, that was the answer I was looking for

'COS OF THE DARK WIZARD MAGIKZ!

*GOES AND GRABS THIS MONTH'S BBC FOCUS MAGAZINE*

Can't answer your question Leevil but can tell you how to get away with murder

Of course all this is assuming there are only 3 states of matter but at current scientific thinking there are around 20 odd including...

Bose-Einstein condensate
Superfluid
Supersolid
Solid
Amorphorus Solid
Crystaline Solid
String-Net Liquid
Liquid
Liquid Crystal
Gas
Superficial Fluid
Collid
Plasma

and lots of ones with complicated names.

Hello? Is anyone awake after that?

And let's not forget glass. It appears to be a solid but is in fact a very vitreous liquid.

Almost as weird as ice being the only known compound where the solid is actually lighter than its liquid. Without that crucial 1-2% increase in volume that occurs as water becomes ice, life would never have existed.

Plus water is the only compound that can exist as a solid, liquid, and gas, at the same temperature - the magic temperature is very close to freezing point but I forget the exact figure (-0.01 degree c, i think.)

my brain is in overload! its almost as bad as having to write in an exam why you cant heat up dry toast in a microwave...they really need Leevil to write their questions from now on