What is the difference between a solid a liquid and a gas?

Answer 1

A solid has a definite shape, while a liquid and a gas do not.

Liquids and solids also have definite volumes, while gasses again do not.

In a solid, the particles vibrate and jiggle, but do not move around each other. In a liquid, the particles move over and around each other, and move more quickly than in a solid, and in a gas, the particles move freely and move more quickly still.

Solids have the least energy in them, liquids have a medium amount, and the gas has the most.

Answer 2

Solids are more dense than liquids, and liquids are more dense than gas. These are not the only states of matter. Actually, there are seven known states of matter. Including from most dense to least dense, BE-C (Bose- Einstein Condensate), Fermanic Condensate, Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma and Quark-Gluon Plasma. In a solid the molecules are move slower and are more tightly packed than, water which has more tightly packed molecules than a gas.

Answer 3

The difference in the states of matter are functions of the thermal energy in an atom and the pressure the atom is under. As electrons are energized they move away from the nucleus. When they are far enough away, as in their energy state/temperature is high enough atoms locked into a crystal lattice (or solid) will dissociate from their neighbors, thus changing their state from solid to liquid. The same occurs at some higher temperature to move the matter from a liquid to a gas.