Pick a substance, then press Solid, Liquid or Gas and watch how the particles arrange themselves.
Substance
Made ofsingle atoms
Temperature
Jump to a state
What you are seeing
Solid
Pick a state, move the slider, or choose a substance to reveal these numbers.
Melts at—
Boils at—
Average speed—
How to use this sim
Choose a substance on the left. Neon and Argon are single atoms; oxygen and water are
molecules made of more than one atom joined together.
Press Solid, Liquid or Gas. The sim jumps straight to a temperature where that
substance is in that state, so you do not have to wait.
Watch the spacing between the particles in each state, and how fast they move.
Use Heat and cool to change the temperature gradually instead. Drag it right to heat,
left to cool. It springs back to off when you let go.
Press Pause to stop everything so you can look carefully or take a screenshot, then
press Play to carry on.
Compare how much space the particles take up. In the solid and liquid states a dashed
line marks the top of the material and the panel on the right tells you how much of the
container is filled. Switch between Solid and Liquid and see which one needs more room. Try
water, then try the others.
Cool as far as the sim will go and watch the speed readout. See whether you can stop
the particles moving altogether, and note the temperature when you do.
Tip: the temperature is shown in both kelvin and degrees Celsius, so
you can answer questions in either unit.