What are the four states of matter and how are they different?

Answer 1

1. Solid-- have a definite shape, molecules are packed very tightly together and do no move, solids are also usually much more dense, when a solid is melted it becomes a liquid.

2. Liquid-- A liquid does not have a fixed shape, like a solid; instead it takes on the shape of the container that it is in. Liquids can flow. when a liquid boils it turns into a gas.


3. Gas-- A gas usually has much lower density than a solid or liquid. A quantity of gas doesn't have a specific shape; in this way it is like a liquid and different from a solid. If a gas is enclosed in a container, it will take on the shape of the container


4. Plasma-- Most of the matter in the universe is found in the plasma state. That is because stars contain so much of the matter in the universe. when electrons are no longer trapped in orbits around the nucleus, we have the plasma state. This is when a gas becomes a bunch of electrons which have escaped the pull of the nucleus and ions which are positively charged because they have lost one or more electrons.
It is the molecular structure. Solid is has fixed molecules, liquid has molecules that move freely, gas has ones that move around largely, and plasma has ions that move in large circles. Also, when moving to the solid side, the temperature is cooler, and hotter as it goes to plasma.

Answer 2

because plasma is an ionized gas so its different

Answer 3

The fourth state of matter is in ionic state where as the three states namely solid, liquid and gas are in neutral state.