LIQUIDS AND CRYSTALS
Liquids
A liquid is described as, a state of matter in which the substance has a definite volume but an indefinite shape. Remarkably, liquid is the rarest state of matter. This is because liquid can only exist in a very small range of temperatures and pressures. There are several properties that go along with a liquid. A liquid has high density. The higher density in a liquid occurs from the tight arrangement of the particles. A liquid is relatively incompressible. An example in the book says "When a liquid water at 20 degrees Celcius is compressed by a pressure of 1000 atm, its volume decreases by only 4%." To reveal the low incompressibility of liquid we can compare it to a gas which compressed at the same pressure would only have 1/1000 of its volume at a normal atmpospheric pressure. Liquid is capable of being diffused. Diffusion is the spontaneous mixing of two substances caused by their random motion. A liquid of any sort can diffuse through any other liquid in which it can dissolve. Another property of a liquid is its surface tension. If I could put the meaning of surface tension into understandable words I would say it is a force that holds a liquid's surface altogether. This decreases the surface area of the liquid. A liquid also has the ability to evaporate or to boil. Finally a liquid can turn into a solid. If you take away heat from a liquid it will turn to a solid. This is usually known as, freezing. Liquids make life very easy for us. There are infinite numbers of uses for a liquid of just about any kind. Without liquids we could not perform the simple task of drinking. Look at liquid soap, squirting a little of this anti-bacterial agent on your hands and then rinsing enables us to quickly clean our hands. If we had no liquid soap we would have to find some sort of chamber filled with anti-bacterial gases and wave our hands around in them to clean them. This may take a great deal of time.
Crystals
Unlike a liquid, a crystal does have shape. A crystal is described as a substance in which the particles are arranged in an orderly, geometric, repeating pattern.
There are four types crystals. Number one being the group known as, Ionic Crystals. It consists of two different ions(monamatic and polyamatic) and they are arranged in a regular pattern. They are hard and brittle and have high melting points. Then There are Covalent Network Crystals. They each have sites and these sites only have one atom each. Each of the atoms are covalently bonded together. We get diamond from this specific type of crystal. Next are our basic Metallic Crystals. I would suspect the reason they are called "metallic" is because, is structure is made up of METAL ATOMS. These are said to be "surrounded by a sea of valence electrons". Because they are metallic crystals their melting points vary greatly like a metal would tend to do. Finally we have the Covalent Molecular Crystals. Its structure is made up of covalently bonded molecules.
The number of uses for crystals are also vast. The covalent network crystals which provide us with the famous diamond. The diamond is a very strong material which can be used for cutting. There are special materials that can only be cut or drilled by something that is extremely dense and strong. This is where diamond comes in. You can cut through glass and rock. Geologists use special drills with diamond its on them. Crystal can also be used in the making of special materials. For instance the crystal feldspar is used in the making of glass and ceramics. The two simple crystals used everyday by everyone, are salt and sugar. As you know these are generally used for foods. Meats can be dried out and salted. Salt will help preserve the meat.
I have gone over what I believe to be the basics one should know about liquids and crystals. Although I did not go too far in depth on the uses of each I have provided a taste of what each can be used for. I hope I have sparked an interest in my readers and encourage anyone who wants to know more about liquids and crystals to use their own time to research these two substances.
