Here's a thought that has been going through my head for the past few weeks. Answer this question:
If you have a single unit of any given substance, what state of matter is it in?
Do you base your answer by temperature (IE, if it's water at 31 degrees Fahrenheit, it must be a solid)
Or do you base your answer by how this particle interacts with other particles (IE, a gas will expand to distribute itself equally in its container)
We know that there is a direct correlation between temperature and movement. Heat is generated by friction (movement) and the temperature Absolute Zero is the temperature at which movement ceases. A few years ago, scientists were able to come within one one billionth (that's 1/1,000,000,000) of absolute zero. This was achieved not by lowering the temperature, but by setting up a container of magnets to hold something (I don't know what it was) almost perfectly still. So, If you have a single unit of any given substance, what state of matter is it in?
Let me know what you think.
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“One thing a computer can do that most humans can't is be sealed up in a cardboard box and sit in a warehouse”
--Jack Handy
Temperature. If the particle is moving, then that determines it's overall phase because temperature and pressure affect the phase (but since we have only one particle in a vacuum, we can really forget about pressure), but being able to determine the phase will need three particles (or was it four?).
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Respectful is a strong word...
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If you have a single unit of any given substance, what state of matter is it in?
Do you base your answer by temperature (IE, if it's water at 31 degrees Fahrenheit, it must be a solid)
Or do you base your answer by how this particle interacts with other particles (IE, a gas will expand to distribute itself equally in its container)
We know that there is a direct correlation between temperature and movement. Heat is generated by friction (movement) and the temperature Absolute Zero is the temperature at which movement ceases. A few years ago, scientists were able to come within one one billionth (that's 1/1,000,000,000) of absolute zero. This was achieved not by lowering the temperature, but by setting up a container of magnets to hold something (I don't know what it was) almost perfectly still. So, If you have a single unit of any given substance, what state of matter is it in?
Let me know what you think.
--Jack Handy
low temp states can be labeled superfluids or something, its been a while since chemistry...
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
--Jack Handy
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions