C hapter 1

MATTER IN OUR SURROUNDINGS

As we look at our surroundings, we see a large Activity ______________ 1.1
variety of things with different shapes, sizes
and textures. Everything in this universe is • Take a 100 mL beaker.
• Fill half the beaker with water and
made up of material which scientists have
mark the level of water.
named “matter”. The air we breathe, the food
• Dissolve some salt/ sugar with the help
we eat, stones, clouds, stars, plants and of a glass rod.
animals, even a small drop of water or a • Observe any change in water level.
particle of sand – every thing is matter. We • What do you think has happened to
can also see as we look around that all the the salt?
things mentioned above occupy space and • Where does it disappear?
have mass. In other words, they have both • Does the level of water change?
mass* and volume**. In order to answer these questions we
Since early times, human beings have need to use the idea that matter is made up
been trying to understand their surroundings. of particles. What was there in the spoon, salt
Early Indian philosophers classified matter in or sugar, has now spread throughout water.
the form of five basic elements – the This is illustrated in Fig. 1.1.
“Panch Tatva”– air, earth, fire, sky and water.
According to them everything, living or non-
living, was made up of these five basic
elements. Ancient Greek philosophers had
arrived at a similar classification of matter.
Modern day scientists have evolved two
types of classification of matter based on their
physical properties and chemical nature.
In this chapter we shall learn about
matter based on its physical properties.
Chemical aspects of matter will be taken up
in subsequent chapters. Fig. 1.1: When we dissolve salt in water, the particles
of salt get into the spaces between particles
1.1 Physical Nature of Matter of water.

1.1.1 MATTER IS MADE UP OF PARTICLES

1.1.2 H OW SMALL ARE THESE PARTICLES
For a long time, two schools of thought prevailed
regarding the nature of matter. One school OF MATTER?
believed matter to be continuous like a block
of wood, whereas, the other thought that matter Activity ______________ 1.2
was made up of particles like sand. Let us • Take 2-3 crystals of potassium
perform an activity to decide about the nature permanganate and dissolve them in
of matter – is it continuous or particulate? 100 mL of water.
* The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg).
** The SI unit of volume is cubic metre (m3). The common unit of measuring volume is
litre (L) such that 1L = 1 dm3, 1L = 1000 mL, 1 mL = 1 cm3.
 • Take out approximately 10 mL of this
solution and put it into 90 mL of clear
1.2.2 PARTICLES OF MATTER ARE
water. CONTINUOUSLY MOVING
• Take out 10 mL of this solution and
put it into another 90 mL of clear water.
• Keep diluting the solution like this 5 to Activity ______________ 1.3
8 times.
• Is the water still coloured ? • Put an unlit incense stick in a corner
of your class. How close do you have to
go near it so as to get its smell?
• Now light the incense stick. What
happens? Do you get the smell sitting
at a distance?
• Record your observations.

Activity ______________ 1.4

• Take two glasses/beakers filled with
Fig. 1.2: Estimating how small are the particles of water.
matter. With every dilution, though the colour • Put a drop of blue or red ink slowly
becomes light, it is still visible.
and carefully along the sides of the first
beaker and honey in the same way in
This experiment shows that just a few the second beaker.
crystals of potassium permanganate can • Leave them undisturbed in your house
colour a large volume of water (about or in a corner of the class.
1000 L). So we conclude that there must be • Record your observations.
millions of tiny particles in just one crystal • What do you observe immediately after
of potassium permanganate, which keep on adding the ink drop?
dividing themselves into smaller and smaller • What do you observe immediately after
particles. adding a drop of honey?
The same activity can be done using • How many hours or days does it take
2 mL of Dettol instead of potassium for the colour of ink to spread evenly
permanganate. The smell can be detected throughout the water?
even on repeated dilution.
The particles of matter are very small – Activity ______________ 1.5
they are small beyond our imagination!!!!
• Drop a crystal of copper sulphate or
1.2 Characteristics of Particles of potassium permanganate into a glass
of hot water and another containing
Matter cold water. Do not stir the solution.
Allow the crystals to settle at the
1.2.1 PARTICLES OF MATTER HAVE SPACE bottom.
BETWEEN THEM • What do you observe just above the
solid crystal in the glass?
In activities 1.1 and 1.2 we saw that particles • What happens as time passes?
of sugar, salt, Dettol, or potassium • What does this suggest about the
permanganate got evenly distributed in water. particles of solid and liquid?
Similarly, when we make tea, coffee or • Does the rate of mixing change with
lemonade (nimbu paani ), particles of one type temperature? Why and how?
of matter get into the spaces between particles
From the above three activities (1.3, 1.4 and
of the other. This shows that there is enough
1.5), we can conclude the following:
space between particles of matter.

2 SCIENCE
 Particles of matter are continuously • If we consider each student as a particle
moving, that is, they possess what we call of matter, then in which group the
the kinetic energy. As the temperature rises, particles held each other with the
particles move faster. So, we can say that with maximum force?
increase in temperature the kinetic energy of
the particles also increases. Activity ______________ 1.7
In the above three activities we observe
• Take an iron nail, a piece of chalk and
that particles of matter intermix on their own
a rubber band.
with each other. They do so by getting into
• Try breaking them by hammering,
the spaces between the particles. This cutting or stretching.
intermixing of particles of two different types • In which of the above three substances
of matter on their own is called diffusion. We do you think the particles are held
also observe that on heating, diffusion together with greater force?
becomes faster. Why does this happen?

1.2.3 PARTICLES OF MATTER ATTRACT

Activity ______________ 1.8
EACH OTHER • Open a water tap, try breaking the
stream of water with your fingers.
• Were you able to cut the stream of
Activity ______________ 1.6 water?
• What could be the reason behind the
• Play this game in the field— make four
stream of water remaining together?
groups and form human chains as
suggested: The above three activities (1.6, 1.7 and
• The first group should hold each other 1.8) suggest that particles of matter have force
from the back and lock arms like Bihu acting between them. This force keeps the
dancers (Fig. 1.3).
particles together. The strength of this force
of attraction varies from one kind of matter
to another.

Q
uestions
1. Which of the following are
matter?
Chair, air, love, smell, hate,
almonds, thought, cold, cold-
drink, smell of perfume.
2. Give reasons for the following
Fig. 1.3 observation:
The smell of hot sizzling food
• The second group should hold hands
to form a human chain.
reaches you several metres
• The third group should form a chain away, but to get the smell from
by touching each other with only their cold food you have to go close.
finger tips. 3. A diver is able to cut through
• Now, the fourth group of students water in a swimming pool. Which
should run around and try to break the property of matter does this
three human chains one by one into observation show?
as many small groups as possible.
• Which group was the easiest to break?
4. What are the characteristics of
Why? the particles of matter?

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 3
1.3 States of Matter the force is removed. If excessive force is
applied, it breaks.
Observe different types of matter around you. • The shape of each individual sugar or
What are its different states? We can see that salt crystal remains fixed, whether we
matter around us exists in three different take it in our hand, put it in a plate or in
states– solid, liquid and gas. These states of a jar.
matter arise due to the variation in the • A sponge has minute holes, in which
characteristics of the particles of matter. air is trapped, when we press it, the air
Now, let us study about the properties of is expelled out and we are able to
these three states of matter in detail. compress it.

1.3.1 THE SOLID STATE 1.3.2 THE LIQUID STATE

Activity _____________ 1.9 Activity _____________ 1.10

• Collect the following articles— a pen, • Collect the following:
a book, a needle and a piece of wooden (a) water, cooking oil, milk, juice, a
stick. cold drink.
• Sketch the shape of the above articles (b) containers of different shapes. Put
in your notebook by moving a pencil a 50 mL mark on these containers
around them. using a measuring cylinder from
• Do all these have a definite shape, the laboratory.
distinct boundaries and a fixed volume? • What will happen if these liquids are
• What happens if they are hammered, spilt on the floor?
pulled or dropped? • Measure 50 mL of any one liquid and
• Are these capable of diffusing into each transfer it into different containers one
other? by one. Does the volume remain the
same?
• Try compressing them by applying
• Does the shape of the liquid remain the
force. Are you able to compress them?
same ?
All the above are examples of solids. We • When you pour the liquid from one
can observe that all these have a definite container into another, does it flow
shape, distinct boundaries and fixed volumes, easily?
that is, have negligible compressibility. Solids We observe that liquids have no fixed
have a tendency to maintain their shape when shape but have a fixed volume. They take up
subjected to outside force. Solids may break the shape of the container in which they are
under force but it is difficult to change their kept. Liquids flow and change shape, so they
shape, so they are rigid. are not rigid but can be called fluid.
Refer to activities 1.4 and 1.5 where we
Consider the following:
saw that solids and liquids can diffuse into
(a) What about a rubber band, can it liquids. The gases from the atmosphere
change its shape on stretching? Is it diffuse and dissolve in water. These gases,
a solid? especially oxygen and carbon dioxide, are
(b) What about sugar and salt? When essential for the survival of aquatic animals
kept in different jars these take the and plants.
shape of the jar. Are they solid? All living creatures need to breathe for
(c) What about a sponge? It is a solid survival. The aquatic animals can breathe
yet we are able to compress it. Why? under water due to the presence of dissolved
All the above are solids as: oxygen in water. Thus, we may conclude that
• A rubber band changes shape under solids, liquids and gases can diffuse into
force and regains the same shape when liquids. The rate of diffusion of liquids is

4 SCIENCE
higher than that of solids. This is due to the We have observed that gases are highly
fact that in the liquid state, particles move compressible as compared to solids and
freely and have greater space between each liquids. The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
other as compared to particles in the solid cylinder that we get in our home for cooking
state. or the oxygen supplied to hospitals in
cylinders is compressed gas. Compressed
1.3.3 THE GASEOUS STATE natural gas (CNG) is used as fuel these days
in vehicles. Due to its high compressibility,
Have you ever observed a balloon seller filling large volumes of a gas can be compressed
a large number of balloons from a single into a small cylinder and transported easily.
cylinder of gas? Enquire from him how many We come to know of what is being cooked
balloons is he able to fill from one cylinder. in the kitchen without even entering there,
Ask him which gas does he have in the cylinder. by the smell that reaches our nostrils. How
does this smell reach us? The particles of the
Activity _____________ 1.11 aroma of food mix with the particles of air
spread from the kitchen, reach us and even
• Take three 100 mL syringes and close
farther away. The smell of hot cooked food
their nozzles by rubber corks, as
shown in Fig.1.4.
reaches us in seconds; compare this with the
• Remove the pistons from all the rate of diffusion of solids and liquids. Due to
syringes. high speed of particles and large space
• Leaving one syringe untouched, fill between them, gases show the property of
water in the second and pieces of chalk diffusing very fast into other gases.
in the third. In the gaseous state, the particles move
• Insert the pistons back into the about randomly at high speed. Due to this
syringes. You may apply some vaseline random movement, the particles hit each
on the pistons before inserting them other and also the walls of the container. The
into the syringes for their smooth
pressure exerted by the gas is because of this
movement.
force exerted by gas particles per unit area
• Now, try to compress the content by
pushing the piston in each syringe. on the walls of the container.

Fig. 1.4
• What do you observe? In which case Fig.1.5: a, b and c show the magnified schematic
was the piston easily pushed in? pictures of the three states of matter. The
• What do you infer from your motion of the particles can be seen and
observations? compared in the three states of matter.

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 5
Q
uestions 1.4.1 EFFECT OF CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE
1. The mass per unit volume of a
substance is called density.
Activity _____________ 1.12
(density = mass/volume). • Take about 150 g of ice in a beaker and
Arrange the following in order of suspend a laboratory thermometer so
increasing density – air, exhaust that its bulb is in contact with the ice,
as in Fig. 1.6.
from chimneys, honey, water,
chalk, cotton and iron.
2. (a) Tabulate the differences in
the characterisitcs of states
of matter.
(b) Comment upon the following:
rigidity, compressibility,
fluidity, filling a gas
container, shape, kinetic
energy and density.
3. Give reasons
(a) A gas fills completely the
vessel in which it is kept.
(b) A gas exerts pressure on the
walls of the container.
(c) A wooden table should be
called a solid.
(d) We can easily move our hand
(a)
in air but to do the same
through a solid block of wood
we need a karate expert.
4. Liquids generally have lower
density as compared to solids.
But you must have observed that
ice floats on water. Find out why.

1.4 Can Matter Change its State?

We all know from our observation that water
can exist in three states of matter–
• solid, as ice,
• liquid, as the familiar water, and
• gas, as water vapour.
What happens inside the matter during
this change of state? What happens to the
(b)
particles of matter during the change of
states? How does this change of state take
place? We need answers to these questions, Fig. 1.6: (a) Conversion of ice to water, (b) conversion
isn’t it? of water to water vapour

6 SCIENCE
 • Start heating the beaker on a low heat. This heat gets used up in changing the
flame. state by overcoming the forces of attraction
• Note the temperature when the ice between the particles. As this heat energy is
starts melting. absorbed by ice without showing any rise in
• Note the temperature when all the ice temperature, it is considered that it gets
has converted into water. hidden into the contents of the beaker and is
• Record your observations for this known as the latent heat. The word latent
conversion of solid to liquid state. means hidden. The amount of heat energy
• Now, put a glass rod in the beaker and
that is required to change 1 kg of a solid into
heat while stirring till the water starts
liquid at atmospheric pressure at its melting
boiling.
• Keep a careful eye on the thermometer
point is known as the latent heat of fusion.
reading till most of the water has
So, particles in water at 00 C (273 K) have
vaporised. more energy as compared to particles in ice
• Record your observations for the at the same temperature.
conversion of water in the liquid state When we supply heat energy to water,
to the gaseous state. particles start moving even faster. At a certain
temperature, a point is reached when the
On increasing the temperature of solids, particles have enough energy to break free
the kinetic energy of the particles increases. from the forces of attraction of each other. At
Due to the increase in kinetic energy, the this temperature the liquid starts changing
particles start vibrating with greater speed. into gas. The temperature at which a liquid
The energy supplied by heat overcomes the starts boiling at the atmospheric pressure is
forces of attraction between the particles. The known as its boiling point. Boiling is a bulk
particles leave their fixed positions and start phenomenon. Particles from the bulk of the
moving more freely. A stage is reached when liquid gain enough energy to change into the
the solid melts and is converted to a liquid. vapour state.
The temperature at which a solid melts to For water this temperature is 373 K
become a liquid at the atmospheric pressure (100 0C = 273 + 100 = 373 K).
is called its melting point. Can you define the latent heat of
vaporisation? Do it in the same way as we
The melting point of a solid is an have defined the latent heat of fusion.
indication of the strength of the force of Particles in steam, that is, water vapour at
attraction between its particles. 373 K (1000 C) have more energy than water
at the same temperature. This is because
The melting point of ice is 273.16 K*. The particles in steam have absorbed extra energy
process of melting, that is, change of solid
state into liquid state is also known as fusion.
When a solid melts, its temperature
remains the same, so where does the heat
energy go?
You must have observed, during the in the form of latent heat of vaporisation.
experiment of melting, that the temperature So, we infer that the state of matter can
of the system does not change after the be changed into another state by changing
melting point is reached, till all the ice melts. the temperature.
This happens even though we continue to We have learnt that substances around
heat the beaker, that is, we continue to supply us change state from solid to liquid and from

*Note: Kelvin is the SI unit of temperature, 00 C =273.16 K. For convenience, we take 00 C = 273 K
after rounding off the decimal. To change a temperature on the Kelvin scale to the Celsius scale
you have to subtract 273 from the given temperature, and to convert a temperature on the
Celsius scale to the Kelvin scale you have to add 273 to the given temperature.

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 7
liquid to gas on application of heat. But there enclosed in a cylinder? Will the particles come
are some that change directly from solid state closer? Do you think that increasing or
to gaseous state and vice versa without decreasing the pressure can change the state
changing into the liquid state.

Activity _____________ 1.13

• Take some camphor or ammonium
chloride. Crush it and put it in a china
dish.
• Put an inverted funnel over the china
dish.
• Put a cotton plug on the stem of the

of matter?
Fig. 1.8: By applying pressure, particles of matter can
be brought close together.

Applying pressure and reducing

temperature can liquefy gases.
Have you heard of solid carbon dioxide
(CO2)? It is stored under high pressure. Solid
CO2 gets converted directly to gaseous state
on decrease of pressure to 1 atmosphere*
without coming into liquid state. This is the
Fig. 1.7: Sublimation of ammonium chloride reason that solid carbon dioxide is also known
as dry ice.
funnel, as shown in Fig. 1.7.
Thus, we can say that pressure and
• Now, heat slowly and observe. temperature determine the state of a
• What do you infer from the above substance, whether it will be solid, liquid
activity?

A change of state directly from solid to

gas without changing into liquid state (or vice
versa) is called sublimation.

1.4.2 EFFECT OF CHANGE OF PRESSURE

We have already learnt that the difference in

various states of matter is due to the
difference in the distances between the
constituent particles. What will happen when
we start putting pressure and compress a gas or gas.

* atmosphere (atm) is a unit of measuring pressure exerted by a gas. The unit of pressure is Pascal (Pa):
1 atmosphere = 1.01 × 105 Pa. The pressure of air in atmosphere is called atmospheric pressure. The
atmospheric pressure at sea level is 1 atmosphere, and is taken as the normal atmospheric pressure.

8 SCIENCE
Q
Fig. 1.9: Interconversion of the three states of matter under a fan.
• Take 5 mL of water in an open china

uestions dish and keep it inside a cupboard or

on a shelf in your class.
1. Convert the following • Record the room temperature.
temperature to celsius scale: • Record the time or days taken for the
a. 300 K b. 573 K. evaporation process in the above cases.
2. What is the physical state of • Repeat the above three steps of activity
water at: on a rainy day and record your
observations.
a. 250ºC b. 100ºC ?
• What do you infer about the effect of
3. For any substance, why does the
temperature, surface area and wind
temperature remain constant
velocity (speed) on evaporation?
during the change of state?
4. Suggest a method to liquefy You must have observed that the rate of
atmospheric gases. evaporation increases with–
• an increase of surface area:
1.5 Evaporation We know that evaporation is a surface
Do we always need to heat or change pressure phenomenon. If the surface area is
for changing the state of matter? Can you increased, the rate of evaporation
quote some examples from everyday life where increases. For example, while putting
change of state from liquid to vapour takes clothes for drying up we spread them out.
place without the liquid reaching the boiling • an increase of temperature:
point? Water, when left uncovered, slowly With the increase of temperature, more
changes into vapour. Wet clothes dry up. number of particles get enough kinetic
What happens to water in the above two energy to go into the vapour state.
examples? • a decrease in humidity:
We know that particles of matter are Humidity is the amount of water vapour
always moving and are never at rest. At a present in air. The air around us cannot
given temperature in any gas, liquid or solid, hold more than a definite amount of
there are particles with different amounts of water vapour at a given temperature. If
kinetic energy. In the case of liquids, a small
the amount of water in air is already high,
fraction of particles at the surface, having
higher kinetic energy, is able to break away the rate of evaporation decreases.
from the forces of attraction of other particles • an increase in wind speed:
and gets converted into vapour. This It is a common observation that clothes
phenomenon of change of a liquid into dry faster on a windy day. With the
vapours at any temperature below its boiling increase in wind speed, the particles of
point is called evaporation. water vapour move away with the wind,
decreasing the amount of water vapour
1.5.1 FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION in the surrounding.

Let us understand this with an activity. 1.5.2 H OW DOES EVAPORATION CAUSE

COOLING ?
Activity _____________ 1.14
In an open vessel, the liquid keeps on
• Take 5 mL of water in a test tube and evaporating. The particles of liquid absorb
keep it near a window or under a fan. energy from the surrounding to regain the
• Take 5 mL of water in an open china
energy lost during evaporation. This
dish and keep it near a window or

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 9
absorption of energy from the surroundings sweat and exposing it to the atmosphere for
make the surroundings cold. easy evaporation.
What happens when you pour some Why do we see water droplets on the outer
acetone (nail polish remover) on your palm? surface of a glass containing ice-cold
The particles gain energy from your palm or water?
surroundings and evaporate causing the Let us take some ice-cold water in a
palm to feel cool. tumbler. Soon we will see water droplets on
After a hot sunny day, people sprinkle the outer surface of the tumbler. The water
water on the roof or open ground because vapour present in air, on coming in contact
with the cold glass of water, loses energy and

Q
the large latent heat of vaporisation of water
helps to cool the hot surface. gets converted to liquid state, which we see
Can you cite some more examples from as water droplets.
daily life where we can feel the effect of cooling
due to evaporation? uestions
Why should we wear cotton clothes in
summer? 1. Why does a desert cooler cool
During summer, we perspire more better on a hot dry day?
because of the mechanism of our body which 2. How does the water kept in an
keeps us cool. We know that during earthen pot (matka) become cool
evaporation, the particles at the surface of during summer?
the liquid gain energy from the surroundings 3. Why does our palm feel cold
or body surface and change into vapour. The when we put some acetone or
heat energy equal to the latent heat of petrol or perfume on it?
vaporisation is absorbed from the body 4. Why are we able to sip hot tea or
leaving the body cool. Cotton, being a good milk faster from a saucer rather
absorber of water helps in absorbing the than a cup?

5. What type of clothes should we wear in summer?

Now scientists are talking of five states of matter: Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma and Bose-
Einstein Condensate.
Plasma: The state consists of super energetic and super excited particles. These particles
are in the form of ionised gases. The fluorescent tube and neon sign bulbs consist of
plasma. Inside a neon sign bulb there is neon gas and inside a fluorescent tube there
is helium gas or some other gas. The gas gets ionised, that is, gets charged when
electrical energy flows through it. This charging up creates a plasma glowing inside
More to know

the tube or bulb. The plasma glows with a special colour depending on the nature of
gas. The Sun and the stars glow because of the presence of plasma in them. The plasma
is created in stars because of very high temperature.
Bose-Einstein Condensate: In 1920, Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose had done
some calculations for a fifth state of matter. Building
on his calculations, Albert Einstein predicted a new
state of matter – the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC).
In 2001, Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle and Carl E.
Wieman of USA received the Nobel prize in physics for
achieving “Bose-Einstein condensation”. The BEC is
formed by cooling a gas of extremely low density, about
S.N. Bose Albert Einstein
one-hundred-thousandth the density of normal air, to
(1894-1974) (1879-1955) super low temperatures. You can log on to

10 SCIENCE
 [Link] to get more information on these fourth and fifth states of matter.
What
you have
learnt
• Matter is made up of small particles.
• The matter around us exists in three states— solid, liquid
and gas.
• The forces of attraction between the particles are maximum in
solids, intermediate in liquids and minimum in gases.
• The spaces in between the constituent particles and kinetic
energy of the particles are minimum in the case of solids,
intermediate in liquids and maximum in gases.
• The arrangement of particles is most ordered in the case of
solids, in the case of liquids layers of particles can slip and
slide over each other while for gases, there is no order, particles
just move about randomly.
• The states of matter are inter-convertible. The state of matter
can be changed by changing temperature or pressure.
• Sublimation is the change of gaseous state directly to solid
state without going through liquid state, and vice versa.
• Boiling is a bulk phenomenon. Particles from the bulk (whole)
of the liquid change into vapour state.
• Evaporation is a surface phenomenon. Particles from the
surface gain enough energy to overcome the forces of attraction
present in the liquid and change into the vapour state.
• The rate of evaporation depends upon the surface area exposed
to the atmosphere, the temperature, the humidity and the
wind speed.
• Evaporation causes cooling.
• Latent heat of vaporisation is the heat energy required to change
1 kg of a liquid to gas at atmospheric pressure at its boiling
point.
• Latent heat of fusion is the amount of heat energy required to
change 1 kg of solid into liquid at its melting point.

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 11
 • Some measurable quantities and their units to remember:

Quantity Unit Symbol

Temperature kelvin K
Length metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Weight newton N
Volume cubic metre m3
Density kilogram per cubic metre kg m–3
Pressure pascal Pa

Exercises
1. Convert the following temperatures to the celsius scale.
(a) 293 K (b) 470 K.
2. Convert the following temperatures to the Kelvin scale.
(a) 25°C (b) 373°C.
3. Give reason for the following observations.
(a) Naphthalene balls disappear with time without leaving any
solid.
(b) We can get the smell of perfume sitting several metres away.
4. Arrange the following substances in increasing order of forces
of attraction between the particles— water, sugar, oxygen.
5. What is the physical state of water at—
(a) 25°C (b) 0°C (c) 100°C ?
6. Give two reasons to justify—
(a) water at room temperature is a liquid.
(b) an iron almirah is a solid at room temperature.
7. Why is ice at 273 K more effective in cooling than water at the
same temperature?
8. What produces more severe burns, boiling water or steam?
9. Name A,B,C,D,E and F in the following diagram showing
change in its state

12 SCIENCE
 Group Activity
Prepare a model to demonstrate movement of particles in solids,
liquids and gases.
For making this model you will need
• A transparent jar
• A big rubber balloon or piece of stretchable rubber sheet
• A string
• Few chick-peas or black gram or dry green peas.
How to make?
• Put the seeds in the jar.
• Sew the string to the centre of the rubber sheet and put some
tape to keep it tied securely.
• Stretch and tie the rubber sheet on the mouth of the jar.
• Your model is ready. Now run your fingers up and down the
string by first tugging at it slowly and then rapidly.

Fig. 1.10: A model for happy converting of solid to liquid and liquid to gas.

MATTER IN OUR S U R R O U N D I N G S 13