How does the behavior of atoms and molecules differ between solids liquids and gasses?
Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "solid liquid gas molecules" to get these possible sources:
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/character.html
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/state.html
http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/slg.html
http://www.chemheritage.org/educationalservices/faces/poly/tutorial/states.htm
http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/states_of_matter.htm
In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
The behavior of atoms and molecules differs significantly between solids, liquids, and gases. Understanding this involves considering the arrangement and movements of particles in each state of matter.
Starting with solids, the particles in this state are tightly packed together in a regular or ordered pattern. The forces of attraction between the particles (intermolecular forces) are strong, causing them to vibrate in a fixed position. This results in solids having a definite shape and volume. The movement of particles in solids is limited to vibrations around their equilibrium positions.
Moving on to liquids, the particles have more freedom of movement compared to solids. Although they are still fairly close together, the intermolecular forces are weaker, allowing the particles to move past each other more easily. This results in liquids having a definite volume, but no fixed shape. The movement of particles in liquids involves both vibrational and translational motion.
Lastly, we have gases, where particles are widely spaced and have very weak intermolecular forces. They have high kinetic energy and move rapidly in all directions, allowing them to fill any container they are in. Gases have neither a definite shape nor volume and can be compressed easily due to the large spaces between particles. The movement of particles in gases is described by rapid translational motion.
To summarize, solids have tightly packed particles with limited vibrational movement, liquids have particles that can move past each other with vibrational and translational motion, and gases have widely spaced particles with rapid translational motion.