What happens to a substance when it is cooled?

Answer 1

It might cool another fraction of a degree (to -273.15 deg C, approx). No further cooling can take place since at that temperature, there is no longer any atomic vibrational energy left to remove from the substance and so no means to lower the temperature.

Answer 2

Heat is a form of energy. When molecules are heated, they are infused with greater energy and move faster. The faster the molecules move, the farther away from one another they get. This results in a phase change (provided enough energy is applied) from a solid, to a liquid, to a gas. The opposite happens when you remove energy from molecules: they slow down. If enough energy is removed, the phase changes from a gas, to a liquid to a solid.

Answer 3

One thing that happens is that the molecules in the matter lose energy and momentum and slow down, therefore the matter becomes more compact.

Answer 4

Either it can actually get colder, or it can change its state - for example, from liquid to solid.

Answer 5

It Contracts