When steam comes into contact with cool air (which reduces energy), it can condense back into water droplets (liquid again). (Steam is the gas state of water, and is also called water vapor.) When it begins to boil, some of the water turns into steam. Water is usually a liquid, but when it reaches to 32° Fahrenheit (F), it freezes into ice. Water is unique because the properties of water allow it to exist in all three states of matter! Note that not all substances can change states just by adding or removing heat-sometimes other physical changes, such as increased pressure, are needed to change the state of a substance. However, if you use heat (i.e., add energy) to melt peanut butter, its state will change and it will flow like a liquid!

It acts more like a solid even though it is very soft. Matter can change from one state to another when physical conditions change when energy, such as heat, is added or removed, a substance can change from a solid to a liquid, or from a liquid to a gas.įor example, peanut butter does not flow like a liquid. Go here to see what the molecules of substances look like as a solid, liquid, and gas. The molecules in a gas are even farther apart than in a liquid and move freely with no pattern at all. The movement is what makes a liquid fluid (or pourable) and take the shape of a container it is in. In a liquid, molecules are farther apart, can move around, and are not arranged in a pattern. When an object is a solid, its molecules are arranged in a pattern and can’t move around much.

Liquid notes for reason