Download The states of matter

The states of matter
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Three states of matter
○ Solid
○ Liquid
○ Gas
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Non classical states
○ Glass
○ Crystal with some degree of disorder
○ Liquid crystal states
○ Magnetically ordered Low-temperature states
○ Superfluids
○ Bose-Einstein Condensate
○ Fermionic condensates
○ Rydberg molecules
○ Quantum Hall states
○ Strange matter
High-energy states
○ Plasma (ionized gas)
○ Quark-gluon plasma
Very High Energy states
Other proposed states
○ Degenerate matter
○ Supersolid
○ String-net liquid
○ Superglass
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Of these, we have not learnt many. In this report, we are focusing on the different states of matter and
provide a brief explanation and description for each
Firstly, the three basic states of matter that can be achieved under normal conditions: Solid, Liquid and
Gas. These three states of matter are taught to the student of Singapore in Primary 4. The forth state of
matter, Plasma, is only discussed in certain classrooms. These three states of matter are the basic states
of matter that most substances around us take
Water is very special. Under normal conditions, water can take on all the 3 states. It can take the form of
a gas, solid and liquid
The none classical states
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Glass
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Glass is a non-crystalline or amorphous solid material that exhibits a glass transition
when heated towards the liquid state
Glasses can be made of quite different classes of materials: inorganic networks (such as
window glass, made of silicate plus additives), metallic alloys, ionic melts, aqueous
solutions, molecular liquids, and polymers
Thermodynamically, a glass is in a metastable state with respect to its crystalline
counterpart.
The conversion rate, however, is practically zero
Crystals with some degree of disorder
○ A plastic crystal is a molecular solid with long-range positional order but with
constituent molecules retaining rotational freedom
○ in an orientational glass this degree of freedom is frozen in a quenched disordered
state.
Liquid crystal states
○ Liquid crystal states have properties intermediate between mobile liquids and ordered
solids
○ Generally, they are able to flow like a liquid but exhibiting long-range order
○ For example, the nematic phase consists of long rod-like molecules such as paraazoxyanisole, which is nematic in the temperature range 118–136 °C
○ In this state the molecules flow as in a liquid, but they all point in the same direction
(within each domain) and cannot rotate freely
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Magnetically ordered
○ Transition metal atoms often have magnetic moments due to the net spin of electrons
which remain unpaired and do not form chemical bonds. In some solids the magnetic
moments on different atoms are ordered and can form a ferromagnet, an
antiferromagnet or a ferrimagnet
Low-temperature states
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Superfluids
○ Close to absolute zero, some liquids form a second liquid state described as
superfluid because it has zero viscosity (or infinite fluidity; i.e., flowing without
friction).
This was discovered in 1937 for helium which forms a superfluid below the
lambda temperature of 2.17 K.
○ In this state it will attempt to "climb" out of its container.
○ It also has infinite thermal conductivity so that no temperature gradient can
form in a superfluid.
○ Placing a super fluid in a spinning container will result in quantized vortices.
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Bose-Einstein Condensates
○ In 1924, Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose predicted the "Bose-Einstein
condensate," (BEC) sometimes referred to as the fifth state of matter.
○ In a BEC, matter stops behaving as independent particles, and collapses into a single
quantum state that can be described with a single, uniform wavefunction.
Fermionic condensates
○ similar to the Bose-Einstein condensate but composed of fermions.
○ The Pauli exclusion principle prevents fermions from entering the same quantum state,
○ but a pair of fermions can behave as a boson
○ multiple such pairs can then enter the same quantum state without restriction.
Rydberg Molecules
○ One of the metastable states of strongly non-ideal plasma is Rydberg matter, which
forms upon condensation of excited atoms.
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These atoms can also turn into ions and electrons if they reach a certain temperature.
In April 2009, Nature reported the creation of Rydberg molecules from a Rydberg atom
and a ground state atom.confirming that such a state of matter could exist. The
experiment was performed using ultracold rubidiumatoms.
Quantum Hall States
○ A quantum Hall state gives rise to quantized Hall voltage measured in the direction
perpendicular to the current flow.
○ A quantum spin Hall state is a theoretical phase that may pave the way for the
development of electronic devices that dissipate less energy and generate less heat.
○ This is a derivation of the Quantum Hall state of matter.
Strange Matter
○ Strange matter is a type of quark matter that may exist inside some neutron stars close
to the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit (approximately 2–3 solar masses).
○ May be stable at lower energy states once formed.
High-energy States
● Plasma(ionized gas)
○ Plasmas or ionized gases can exist at temperatures starting at several thousand degrees
Celsius, where they consist of free charged particles, usually in equal numbers, such as
ions and electrons.
○ Plasma, like gas, is a state of matter that does not have definite shape or volume.
○ Unlike gases, plasmas may self-generate magnetic fields and electric currents, and
respond strongly and collectively to electromagnetic forces.
○ The particles that make up plasmas have electric charges, so plasma can conduct
electricity.
○ Two examples of plasma are the charged air produced by lightning, and a star such as
our own sun.
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Quark-gluon Plasma
○ Quark-gluon plasma is a phase in which quarks become free and able to move
independently (rather than being perpetually bound into particles) in a sea of gluons
(subatomic particles that transmit the strong force that binds quarks together);
○ This is similar to splitting molecules into atoms.
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This state may be briefly attainable in particle accelerators, and allows scientists to
observe the properties of individual quarks, and not just theorize.
Very High-energy states
● The gravitational singularity predicted by general relativity to exist at the center of a black hole
is not a phase of matter;
● it is not a material object at all (although the mass-energy of matter contributed to its creation)
but rather a property of spacetime at a location.
Other Proposed states
● Degenerate Matter
○ Under extremely high pressure, ordinary matter undergoes a transition to a series of
exotic states of matter collectively known as degenerate matter.
○ In these conditions, the structure of matter is supported by the Pauli exclusion principle
○ These are of great interest to astrophysicists, because these high-pressure conditions
are believed to exist inside stars that have used up their nuclear fusion "fuel", such as
white dwarfs and neutron stars.
● Supersolid
○ A supersolid is a spatially ordered material (that is, a solid or crystal) with superfluid
properties.
○ Similar to a superfluid, a supersolid is able to move without friction but retains a rigid
shape.
○ Although a supersolid is a solid, it exhibits so many characteristic properties different
from other solids that many argue it is another state of matter
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String-net liquid
○ In a string-net liquid, atoms have apparently unstable arrangement, like a liquid, but are
still consistent in overall pattern, like a solid.
○ When in a normal solid state, the atoms of matter align themselves in a grid pattern, so
that the spin of any electron is the opposite of the spin of all electrons touching it.
○ But in a string-net liquid, atoms are arranged in some pattern which would require some
electrons to have neighbors with the same spin.
○ This gives rise to curious properties, as well as supporting some unusual proposals about
the fundamental conditions of the universe itself.
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Superglass
○ A superglass is a phase of matter which is characterized at the same time by
superfluidity and a frozen amorphous structure
References:
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2005-06-22, MIT News: MIT physicists create new form of matter
2003-10-10, Science Daily: Metallic Phase For Bosons Implies New State Of Matter
2004-01-15, ScienceDaily: Probable Discovery Of A New, Supersolid, Phase Of Matter
2004-01-29, ScienceDaily: NIST/University Of Colorado Scientists Create New Form Of Matter: A
Fermionic Condensate
● "Phases of Matter". NASA. Retrieved 2011-05-04