What is Liquids: Definition and 198 Discussions

A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, and plasma), and is the only state with a definite volume but no fixed shape. A liquid is made up of tiny vibrating particles of matter, such as atoms, held together by intermolecular bonds. Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Most liquids resist compression, although others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly constant density. A distinctive property of the liquid state is surface tension, leading to wetting phenomena. Water is, by far, the most common liquid on Earth.
The density of a liquid is usually close to that of a solid, and much higher than in a gas. Therefore, liquid and solid are both termed condensed matter. On the other hand, as liquids and gases share the ability to flow, they are both called fluids. Although liquid water is abundant on Earth, this state of matter is actually the least common in the known universe, because liquids require a relatively narrow temperature/pressure range to exist. Most known matter in the universe is in gaseous form (with traces of detectable solid matter) as interstellar clouds or in plasma from within stars.

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  1. Keith

    Could Reducing Gravity Impact the 'Burping' of a Bottle?

    Hello I have a question. When you turn a bottle upside down, the liquid pours out and air pockets rise into the upper part of the bottle, taking the place of the displaced water. I'm just curious, if you could reduce the effect of gravity on the bottle, is there a point where the bottle could...
  2. B

    Archimedes problem? density's of objects in liquids

    A solid weights 260N in air, 240N in water of a fluid density 1000kg/m^3, and 250N in oil Determine the relative density of the solid and of the oil I think I have already worked out the density of the solid: Weight of water displaced = 260N - 240N = 20N 20N / 9.8 = 2.0408kg Water density...
  3. M

    Focal length of lens at border of two liquids

    Homework Statement I need to find optical power (reciprocal focal length) of this system with thin lens Homework Equations I tried to solve this using spherical diopter equation n1/a+n2/b=(n2-n1)/R where a is object distance and b is image distance The Attempt at a Solution equation for...
  4. D

    Electricity through moving conductive liquid

    We Know that in conductive Solids there are lots of free electrons available & they drift when electric field is applied. Their drift velocity is in the range of mm/sec to cm/sec. Now if we consider any conductive liquid which is flowing & we connect the electrodes in such fashion that the flow...
  5. AdityaDev

    How does the melting of ice affect the oil-water interface in a fluid system?

    Homework Statement A cube of ice is floating in water such that some part of the ice is submerged. Oil is poured on the water.( so water on the bottom, oil on top and ice in between). When the ice melts completely, the level of oil-water interface ______(rises/falls) and the top level of oil...
  6. S

    Non-ideal solution and vapour pressure

    When there is a positive or negative deviation it is due to the interactions between A-A and B-B being weaker or stronger than the interactions between A-B. However, are there any scenarios where the interactions between A-A are stronger than A-B while B-B weaker than A-A or vice versa? In such...
  7. P

    Can liquids be treated as rigid bodies for moment of inertia

    Consider a partially filled bottle of water. When it's tipped over and rotating about its pivot point where its edge touches the ground, it has an angular acceleration. Assuming the liquid is not viscous at all, so flows perfectly, at a given instant can it be considered to have a moment of...
  8. S

    Vessel with liquids having different refractive index

    1.Problem: A vessel is quarter filled with a liquid of refractive index A. the remaining parts of the vessel is filled with an immiscible liquid of refractive index 3A/2. The apparent depth of the vessel is 50% of the actual depth. the value of A is? 1)1 2)3/2 3)2/3 4)4/3 Solution: 1...
  9. E

    Electronic Energy Bands of Liquids

    Wiki says that "The electrons of a single, isolated atom occupy atomic orbitals. Each orbital forms at a discrete energy level. When multiple atoms join together to form into a molecule, their atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals, each of which forms at a discrete energy level. As...
  10. duran9987

    Can blowing on liquids actually cool them down?

    I just began reading Feynman lectures and it turns out that during evaporation, water molecules that move faster than average (higher temp) break away from the attraction of their neighbors leaving behind molecules that move slower than average (lower temp) and result in a cooler liquid. When a...
  11. P

    Electromagnetic Coil Strength from Moving Liquids?

    I was reading about drift velocity and according to http://amasci.com/miscon/speed.html 100VDC at 1A moving through ~12 AWG wire would produce an electron velocity of 8.4 cm/hr. Since that is incredibly slow I'm curious if a charged fluid (something like the oil used in an oil-based van de...
  12. N

    Gasoline smell does not inginte

    Say there is a chair soaked in gasoline. If someone is to walk in the room the smell is immediate if the chair was lit on fire the liquid gasoline would ignite the chair. However, what about the particles that constitute the smell of it? Why don't they ignite as well? What is the nature of the...
  13. J

    Would it be possible to hold electrified liquids in the air?

    Hi, Would it be possible to hold electrified liquids in the air? There is an external electric field applied to the liquids. What kind of liquid must it be? I guess water wouldn't do the job.
  14. Qw_freak

    Calculation of gamma ray shielding value in liquids?

    Hi folks Please bear with me, I'm new here and this may not be the correct forum to ask this question. If this is the case, I'll of course remove my question and ask it the appropriate place instead. However, here it goes: I need to be able to calculate how much a given intensity of gamma...
  15. J

    Why liquids transported in cylindrical or elliptical cylindrical

    on road? and why not cuboidal ones?
  16. B

    Dropping Marbles in Different viscous liquids

    Hi Forum. So I'm doing a physics experiment where I drop marbles in different viscous liquids and I am suppose to discuss the relationship of the marble's velocity. But I am changing the marble's diameter and mass at the same time since I don't have any marbles which have the same mass but...
  17. Y

    Rate law expression with solids and liquids

    Hello Forum! I was wondering: In the rate law expressions, I could never find an example with a solid or a liquid in the reactants in my textbook (Chemistry by Zumdahl). I searched Chemistry (Raymond Chang) and Principles of Molecular Chemistry, without any success. What happens to...
  18. T

    Buoyancy, depth a block will sink in two different liquids

    Homework Statement 4. The bottom half of a tank is filled with water (ρ = 1.0 x 103 kg/m3), and the top half is filled with oil (ρ = 0.85 x 103 kg/m3). Suppose that a rectangular block of wood of mass 5.5 kg, 30 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm high is placed in this tank. How deep will the...
  19. P

    Two liquids are inside of a U-tube, which

    Homework Statement Two containers are connected with a u-tube as shown above. An steady equilibrium state is reached where oil with a density of ##900\frac{kg}{m^3}## exactly fills the left leg connected to the container with pressure ##p_1## and the other other leg is filled with water. What...
  20. S

    Melting/freezing point depression of water vs. other liquids

    Hey I'm trying to derive the Gibbs-Thomson equation for the freezing/melting point depression of liquids inside a confined space, such as a cylindrical pore. This has been observed for many liquids, such as water, benzene, heptane, etc. Basically my question is, why does water, which expands...
  21. A

    Can mass spectrometry work on liquids and solids?

    I am researching mass spectrometry for my school assignment and I seem to be getting contradictory answers. Some websites say that the sample used in mass spectrometry is definitely vaporized before use but other websites state that it can work on liquids e.g. in liquid chromatography/ mass...
  22. S

    Why is the mixing of ethanol and water exothermic?

    Why is the mixing of ethanol and water exothermic? Because unless there's a reaction I'm thinking by the law of conservation of energy the total energy of the bonds should remain the same before and after. Because considering hydrogen bonds, the total number of bonds is dependent on the...
  23. Z

    Height difference in liquids with different densities.

    Homework Statement A container formed according to the figure, as two communicating vessels, is open. Both parts have a square cross section, with side 1.0 dm of the left part and 2.0 dm of the right. From the beginning, the container contains only water, and the two water surfaces is then...
  24. N

    Calculating Volumetric Flow Rate (Q) of Non-Water Liquids

    Hey, I was wondering how to calculate the volumetric flow rate (Q) of a liquid other than water through a hole at the bottom of a tank. I know that Q= V.A and 1/2.ρ.V^2 = ρ.g.h Where, V: Velocity of the liquid coming out of the hole A: Area of the hole h: Height of the...
  25. M

    Can Liquids Be Compressed? Exploring the Science Behind Pressure and Liquids

    hello! is there a way to actually "compress" a liquid? ie. we have a balloon with water, can we reduce the pressure of the water on the ballon? thanks!
  26. E

    Why is pressure in liquids not volume dependent?

    For example, if you have really large pond and a small pond, and you swim down 3 meters in each of them, the pressure will be the same. Why? (Is it possible to describe this using kinetic theory or molecular motion?). It doesn't really make sense to me; if there's more water, and water...
  27. M

    Liquids, internal energy and specific heat capacity

    A liquid contained in an adiabatic container is shaked vigorously so that it its temp. Increases. The heat capacity for the liquid is given, the rise in temp. Is given. According to the first law of thermo, dQ=dW + dU here dQ is 0. Asked, is to find the work done on the system, i.e...
  28. E

    Pressure in Liquids and Pascal's Principle?

    Okay, so Pascal's Principle (as copied from Wikipedia): A change in pressure at any point in an enclosed fluid at rest is transmitted undiminished to all points in the fluid. From what I've gathered, this means that pressure in liquids act in all directions, so if you press a closed...
  29. A

    Change in Entropy for Mixing of Two Liquids

    Homework Statement You mix 1 liter of water at 20°C with 1 liter of water at 80°C. Set up an equation to find the change in entropy for one of the volumes of liquid in terms of initial temperature (T1) and the temperature after the two volumes of water mixed (T2) Homework Equations...
  30. I

    Understanding Sound Propagation in Liquids: Longitudinal and Transverse Waves

    Why sound waves propagate through liquids as longitudinal waves, and it is propagate on the surface of the liquid as transverse waves?
  31. B

    States of matter; liquids and solids

    Water at 0°C was placed in a dish inside a vessel maintained at low pressure by a vacuum pump. After a quantiti of water had evaporated, the remainder froze. If 9.31 g of ice at 0°C was obtained, how much liquid water must have evaporated? The heat of fusion of water is 6.01 kJ/mol and its heat...
  32. H

    Understanding Pressure in Liquids

    I can't seem to get a clear picture of how the pressure changes in liquids. Here is a small self made file, made to make myself understand this topic . Click on the attachment. Obviously as the water rose up, air pressure in the small tube rose up. (Due to Boyle's Law) Now let's...
  33. N

    [fluid dynamics] are they trying to use the ideal gas law for LIQUIDS?

    In my course they're using the equality U = \frac{p}{\alpha \rho} with alpha some constant (U = internal energy per mass, p = pressure, rho = density). They explicitly derive it for an ideal gas yet later apply it to a liquid (in the context of deriving the Navier-Stokes energy equation). Seems...
  34. A

    Density-density interaction in Luttinger liquids

    Hi, I'm reading ad article of Lal et al (junction of several weakly interaction quantum wires: a renormalization group study). It's quite cleare but there are some row I'm not good to understand. Could someone help me to understand how obtain equation (6) from equation (4)? I don't know how to...
  35. A

    Methods used to measure the density of solid materials and liquids.

    Homework Statement I have to find two methods used to measure the density of a solid material and one method to measure a liquids density Homework Equations n/a The Attempt at a Solution got one method for the solids and have written this but my teacher wants me to find the...
  36. S

    Pressure at the bottom of cylinder immersed in two liquids

    Homework Statement A solid cylinder has base area A, height 20 cm and density 0.8 g/cm3, floats in the boundary of oil and water. If the density of oil 0.6 g/cm3, find a. the height of cylinder that immersed in oil and water b. the hydrostatic pressure at the bottom of the cylinder if the...
  37. M

    Thermophysical properties of gases and liquids

    Hi, I am looking for the thermophysical (viscosity, thermal conductivity, diffusivity, linear expansion, dansity) values of gases and liquids at various pressure. Can anyone tell me any useful resource of finding this data. Thanks Misbah
  38. U

    Predicting solubility of ionic compounds in ionic liquids

    This question probably belittles the complexity of the issue, but I thought I'd ask anyway: Are there any reasonable methods by which the solubility of ionic compounds (e.g., KCl, NaBr, CaO, etc.) in ionic liquids (e.g., 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, tetrabutylammonium...
  39. S

    Pressure and transmission of pressure in liquids

    I understand that pressure is F/A. But whenever they ask me to find the pressure of a book acting on the table, since the object in question is actually the table so is the force the reaction force on the table by the book and not actually weight since weight is an internal force? Again...
  40. J

    Example question on pressure of liquids

    This question seemed a bit abstract to me, maybe some of you could come up with an answer with explanation? When designing a dam should one consider the horizontal extent of the water behind the dam or the vertical depth of the water? Justify your answer. Thanks.
  41. J

    Does water displacement theory apply to other liquids?

    Hi, I assume that you all know the water displacement theory where: The volume of water displaced is equal to volume of completely submerged object. Now, my questions is this: does this theory work for other liquids besides water (e.g. mercury, seawater)? If not, then can you please...
  42. A

    Buoyancy problem in two liquids

    in attached fig. is their any buoyant force on block by liquid 'A'?what is total force on block by liquid 'A'?
  43. K

    Does Le chatlier's law apply if reactants are liquids and a product is solid?

    Hi So the reaction is below: Sodium thiosulfate + HCl = Sulfur + NaCl+ Water+ SO2 So if I wanted to say 'Increasing the conc. of Sodium thiosulfate has shifted the equilibrium to the left (reactants) and thus the system works to break down excess reactants and create more product by...
  44. S

    Force on object located between two liquids

    Homework Statement A cube has side as shown. If the atmospheric pressure is p, find the force acting at the bottom of the cube!Homework Equations P = F / A P = ρ.g.h The Attempt at a Solution Fbottom = Pbottom . A = (p + Pressure by upper liquid + P by lower liquid) . 4/9 b^2 = (p + Pressure...
  45. B

    Archimedes' principle with 2 liquids

    A sphere of density = 500 kg/m^3 floats on water (density of water = 1000 kg/m^3). 1. What fraction of the volume of the sphere is below the waterline? ---I understand this problem and I got the correct answer of 0.5 2. Another liquid of density 200 kg/m^3 is now added on top of the water. The...
  46. S

    Are there liquids that can generate high electrical output from random movement?

    Hi All :) Im working on a small contraption and I need to create a power source from random movement. I herd there are some liquids that can be mixed together to have high electrical output generated. or maybe liquid and gas? Either way it must be safe and non toxic. thank you for your time...
  47. resurgance2001

    Refractive index of different liquids

    Hi Some of my students are doing an experiment, investigating the refractive index of different liquids such as water, alcohol, syrup (very concentrated sugar solution!), and oil. The results that of their experiments seem to be showing that oil has a high refractive index than water and...
  48. D

    Solids and Liquids in Hetrogenous Equilibrium

    We started to learn about chemical equilibrium and equilibrium constants a few weeks ago and something has been bugging me. I don't understand why solids and liquids are not included in the equilibrium constants for some reactions. Here's a hypothetical situation with the following reaction...
  49. J

    Pressure and Height in Liquids: A Container with Different Diameter Tubes

    Homework Statement A container consists of two tubes, tube A which is wider and tube B which is narrower. The diameter of a tube A is four times that of tube B. Some mercury is poured into the container first and then water is added into the thin tube until it reaches a depth of 70 cm. a)...
  50. Z

    Keq Concept: No Liquids in Keq

    So I see in my book that for an acid dissociation, the Ka = K eq [H 2 O] and that the Keq includes H2O in the eqn. Shouldn't there be no liquids in Keq? Keq = [H 3 O + ] [A - ] [HA] [H 2 O] Why is there H2O in Keq? If I am asked to calculate Keq do I have I have to include...
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