Chemistry / Unit 8 Chem 1361 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Condensed Phases and the IMF-KE Balance
Captions available
The idea
A substance exists as solid, liquid, or gas depending on the balance between its intermolecular forces and its particles' kinetic energy.
In practice
Cooling a gas slows its particles until intermolecular attraction can hold them together as a liquid.
Where people slip
The phase is a balance, not a fixed property — the same substance shifts phase as temperature or pressure changes its side of that balance.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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