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Concept · 4 steps · NESA SC4-SOL-01

States of Matter & the Particle Model

The one idea that explains solids, liquids and gases all at once — from why ice melts, all the way to reasoning backwards from a puffed-up packet of chips. Four short steps, each with its own toy to play with.

1 Where it comes fromEverything's made of tiny moving particles. Drag the heat slider and watch a solid become a liquid become a gas. 2 How to do itThe five rules of the model, and the three-step method for explaining any change of state. 3 Where it gets trickyThe particle isn't the substance, the gaps are empty, and melting isn't dissolving. 4 Out in the wildSmells crossing a room, balloons in the freezer — and reasoning backwards from what you see.
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