States of Matter Quiz

This states of matter quiz will help you to remember everything you need to know about the three states!

Remember that before you move on to the next topics, you should make sure to understand thoroughly atomic structure. 

Matter exists in a variety of states, some familiar and some exotic and strange. Focussing on the familiar, we have three states that matter can exist. These are solids, liquids and gasses. If you take a look around you will see mostly solids, tables, chairs, walls and floors are all solid and we take for granted how useful this state of matter really is. 

The second is also quite familiar and we interact with it throughout the day, liquids. We drink, wash and cook with water which is at the typical range of temperatures experienced on Earth, in a liquid state. In the final state, gases are a bit elusive. Sure, we know that there is air all around us since we are breathing is and we are alive. But, we never see gases. We never see the wind blow, except for watching the effect of the wind on other objects like trees and bushes. These three states are all important and without them, we couldn’t exist.

The phase transition from a gas to a liquid is called condensation. This happens when the temperature of a gas goes below its boiling point.

The phase transition from a gas to a solid is called deposition. This happens when a gas is supercooled to below its boiling and melting points. Frost sometimes appears on grass through deposition. 

States of matter are fundamental for the existence of life. We need a solid surface to live on, we need to drink liquids and we need to breathe gases. Other organisms can and do live lives floating in water and air or even buried underground. If we think about the other states of matter that we are not familiar with, they are essentially inhospitable to life as we know it!

Plasma, a superheated gaseous like state where electrons have been removed from their orbits is certainly not ideal for respiration or photosynthesis. Another highly unusual state of matter known as Bose-Einstein Condensates is so elusive that they can only be observed in highly specialised labs. This strange state of matter exists only near the minimum possible temperature where all atoms stop vibrating altogether, known as absolute zero or -273.15˚C. Life processes are simply impossible at these extreme temperatures and we can count ourselves lucky that we have the familiar three states, solids, liquids and gases. 

If you found our States of Matter Quiz interesting you should probably check out our other quiz and explainer on the Particle or Kinetic Theory and how it can be used to explain the states of matter.