Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge and Chelmsford States of Matter Questions
States of Matter
1) Open the States of Matter Interactive Simulation found in the Syllabus and Study Guide under the Unit
VII Assignment.
2) Start this exercise by clicking on “States” when prompted.
3) Select “Gas” from the menu at the right (below “solid” and “liquid”).
4) Drag and hold the “cool” to remove heat from the Neon sample in the container until you reach 0K.
5) Describe what you see as the sample is cooled:
6) Add heat to the Neon sample in the container by dragging and holding the “heat.” Increase the
temperature of the gas until a change occurs to the container (this will be a very obvious change, but
will take several minutes to occur).
7) Describe what “big” change happened to the container.
8) Click the “reset” button in the lower right corner to bring the container and its contents back.
9) From the menu of gases in the upper right, do the same for Argon, Oxygen and Water.
a. Observe gas particles’ behavior.
b. Switch between the different particles and talk about the similarities and differences that you see
between the heavier and lighter particles.
i.
Similarities:
ii.
Differences:
c. Use the simulation to see how changing the temperature affects the behavior of the gas particles.
d. Write a description for a gas based on your observations; include screenshots to help with your
description (clicking “pause” to the left of the heating mantle will help you secure good action
shots). Be detailed in your descriptions and relate it to the Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases.
You can take screenshots by selecting the three vertical dots in the bottom right hand corner of
the simulation screen and then selecting “Screenshot.” A screenshot will be downloaded to your
browser which you can save to your computer.
GAS
NEON
ARGON
OXYGEN
WATER
SCREENSHOT OF GAS AT 0 K
SCREENSHOT OF GAS AT 325 K