
(Note: The space between particles in the gas phase is much greater than shown.)Īs an example of the processes depicted in this figure, consider a sample of water. Transitions between solid, liquid, and gaseous states of a substance occur when conditions of temperature or pressure favor the associated changes in intermolecular forces. Figure 1 illustrates how changes in physical state may be induced by changing the temperature, hence, the average KE, of a given substance. These forces serve to hold particles close together, whereas the particles’ KE provides the energy required to overcome the attractive forces and thus increase the distance between particles. IMFs are the various forces of attraction that may exist between the atoms and molecules of a substance due to electrostatic phenomena, as will be detailed in this module. The phase in which a substance exists depends on the relative extents of its intermolecular forces (IMFs) and the kinetic energies (KE) of its molecules. The differences in the properties of a solid, liquid, or gas reflect the strengths of the attractive forces between the atoms, molecules, or ions that make up each phase. Particles in a solid vibrate about fixed positions and do not generally move in relation to one another in a liquid, they move past each other but remain in essentially constant contact in a gas, they move independently of one another except when they collide.Particles in a solid are tightly packed together and often arranged in a regular pattern in a liquid, they are close together with no regular arrangement in a gas, they are far apart with no regular arrangement.

Note that we will use the popular phrase “intermolecular attraction” to refer to attractive forces between the particles of a substance, regardless of whether these particles are molecules, atoms, or ions.Ĭonsider these two aspects of the molecular-level environments in solid, liquid, and gaseous matter:

In the following description, the term particle will be used to refer to an atom, molecule, or ion.
