What Are States of Matter?

The state of matter refers to the appearance of different phases of a substance. Matter is made up of molecules and atoms. There are usually three states of matter: gaseous, liquid, and solid. In addition, substances include "plasma state", "supercritical state", "ultra-solid state", and "neutron state".

Object state

Object state "plasma state"

Atoms are composed of nuclei and electrons. Usually electrons rotate around the nucleus. However, at high temperatures above several thousand degrees Celsius, gaseous atoms began to throw away electrons from their bodies, so the negatively charged electrons began to roam freely, and the atoms became positively charged ions. The higher the temperature, the more electrons the gas atoms drop off. This phenomenon is called gas ionization. Scientists call ionized gases "plasma states". In addition to high temperatures, the use of strong ultraviolet, X-rays, and C-rays to irradiate the gas can also transform the gas into a plasma state. Maybe you feel that this plasma state is rare! In fact, it is the most common form in the vast and vast universe. Because most glowing stars in the universe have extremely high temperatures and pressures inside them, the materials inside these planets are almost in a plasma state. This is the fourth state of matter. In a plasma state, the electrons and the nucleus are "different from one another" and leave each other.

Object status "ultra-solid"

Inside white dwarfs, pressure and temperature are higher. Under the pressure of several hundred Gigapascals, not only the gaps between the atoms were squeezed out, but also the electron layers around the atoms were crushed. There is no longer any void in the matter. Such a substance is called "super solid" by scientists. The interior of a white dwarf is full of such supersolid matter. At the center of the earth where we live, the pressure there reaches around 350 Gigapascals, so there is also a certain amount of ultra-solid matter.

Object state "neutron state"

If huge pressure is added to the supersolid matter, then the tightly squeezed nuclei and electrons can no longer be tight. At this time, the nuclei have to declare their dissolution and release protons and neutrons from the inside. The protons released from the nucleus will combine with electrons to form neutrons under great pressure. As a result, the structure of matter has undergone a fundamental change. Originally, the nucleus and electrons have now become neutrons. Such a state is called a "neutron state". The density of neutron matter is even more scary. It is more than 100,000 times larger than ultra-solid matter! A neutron-state substance the size of a matchbox weighs 3 billion tons and requires more than 960000 heavy locomotives to pull it! In the universe, it is estimated that only a few stars have this form of matter.