Question

In which of the following phases of matter do molecules have the lowest amount of energy?

Answer 1

Think about water. You've seen ice cubes and liquid water at the same time before right? So it should now be apparent the solid phase is colder than the liquid phase. How about boiling water? Ever notice that steam comes off? That too is water in gas form. So now it sort of makes sense that gas is hotter than liquid.

Why is this? Think of molecules as not moving very much when cold and when they get heat they move and vibrate more. So in a solid they're not moving very much but when you heat them up to melting they will be able to slide around. Keep heating and they'll have so much energy they can completely fly away like gas!

Answer 2

Thank you!