What state of matter is glass assigned to?

Answer 1

The state (phase) of matter is the condition of its molecular structure, which can be temperature-dependent.

Four States of Matter

1. Solid - In a solid the molecules are closely bound to one another by molecular forces
2. Liquid - In a liquid the molecular forces are weaker than in a solid so that molecules can more easily move in relation to each other
3. Gas - In a gas the molecular forces are very weak, and the density is lower because molecules are farther apart
4. Plasma - A plasma is a fluid, like a liquid or gas, but because of the charged particles present in a plasma, it responds to and generates electro-magnetic forces.

Answer 2

The state of confusion.

Some people call it a liquid, others call it a solid, the more sane of us think "Can't we just call it a glass and be done with it?"

The argument for calling it a liquid goes something like this: Solids have a definite crystalline structure and a sharply defined melting point. Glass has neither of these. Ergo, it is a liquid.

The argument for calling it a solid goes something like this: Look at it. You can sit it on the table without worrying about it dripping off onto the carpet. You can BREAK it and cut yourself on the pieces, for Pete's sake. "Oh look, rocks must be liquid too, hur hur hur."

A slightly more sophisticated version relies on thermodynamic properties, specifically on the fact that there's what's called a first-order phase transition when a material goes from a solid to a liquid, and that doesn't happen when molten glass cools. Instead, it just gets more and more viscous, until it reaches a point where it's superficially indistinguishable from a solid. However, at least in some materials there's something called a "glass transition temperature", at which the material goes from being hard and brittle to being rubbery, and there IS a phase transition (albeit not a first-order one) at that point.

It turns out that dividing things into "solids" and "liquids" is too simple to adequately describe what's going on with glasses. Among materials scientists, the term "amorphous solid" is preferred. It gets across the point that there's no long-range order, it conveys indirectly that this is technically a metastable state on timescales approaching infinity, and (perhaps most viscerally satisfying) it manages to imply that just by looking at one you can't tell it's not thermodynamically a solid in the same sense that a crystalline material is.

(The few adherents of the "liquid" camp often use "supercooled liquid" but that term has its own problems, most disturbing of which is that the same term is more commonly used that clearly are liquids and look and act like liquids on a human timescale, which glass does not.)

Answer 3

What's the answer

Answer 4

solid, liquid, gas, plasma

Answer 5

liquid

Answer 6

seven

Answer 7

Solid.

Answer 8

Liquid