What are the 6 states of matter?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the various states of matter, specifically identifying and defining the six known states. Participants explore traditional states such as solids, liquids, gases, plasma, and Bose-Einstein condensates, while also considering additional states like fermionic condensates and the matter found in neutron stars.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants identify the classic three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.
  • Others add plasma and Bose-Einstein condensate, suggesting these make five states.
  • A participant mentions a sixth state related to neutron stars, describing it as a neutron superfluid.
  • There is a reference to a seventh state, dark matter, which may consist of multiple types.
  • Questions arise regarding the nature of Bose-Einstein condensates and fermionic condensates, with requests for clarification on their properties and behaviors.
  • Participants discuss the implications of superconductors in relation to magnetic levitation and energy efficiency, raising questions about the mechanisms behind levitation and friction reduction.
  • Clarifications are made regarding the classification of rubidium atoms as bosons, with discussions on particle spin and behavior.
  • Technical details about superconductors and their magnetic properties are shared, including references to the Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect and diamagnetism.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the exact number of states of matter, with multiple competing views on what constitutes a state. There is also ongoing discussion and clarification regarding the properties of specific states and related phenomena.

Contextual Notes

Some statements rely on specific definitions of states of matter, and the discussion includes unresolved questions about the nature of certain states and their properties. The conversation also touches on complex concepts that may require further exploration for full understanding.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to students and enthusiasts of physics, particularly those curious about states of matter, superconductivity, and particle physics.

Evil
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wat r the 6 states of matter?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
liquid/solid/gas = 3??
 
plasma? BEC?? that makes 5.
 
Sixth state of matter: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3441643.stm"

The new matter is the sixth known form of matter after solids, liquids, gases, plasma and a Bose-Einstein condensate, created only in 1995.
 
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you've also got that state of matter which i forgot what it is called but neutron stars are made from it...where all atoms strip down to a neutron superfluid
 
Nature articles are always more impressive
http://www.nature.com/nsu/040126/040126-12.html"
29 January 2004
 
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sorry but can anyone here explain Bose-Einstein condensate and fermonic condensate to me?
i read it somewhere it rings a bell but it makes no sense to me :p
 
Sorry to barrage with questions, I hope it's not too much trouble. To quote:
Superconductors could allow for the development of magnetically levitated trains. Free of friction they could glide along at high speeds using a fraction of the energy trains now use.

Why would that be possible? Is it just saying that they could levitate by using resistance that didn't lose energy? Or something to that effect?
 
Originally posted by d00dz
you've also got that state of matter which i forgot what it is called but neutron stars are made from it...where all atoms strip down to a neutron superfluid
http://www.herts.ac.uk/astro_ub/a41_ub.html.
Evil wrte: sorry but can anyone here explain Bose-Einstein condensate and fermonic condensate to me?
Click on the link in Monique's last post; it's a good summary. For further info, google on Bose-Einstein condensate, and chose one of the articles to suit your level.

Seventh: dark matter (may be more than one kind :wink: ).
 
  • #10
BEC is a supercooled particles of bosons, which act as a single molecule. The fermionic condensate is made up of the other kind of particles: fermions.

What I don't understand: how do rubidium atoms belong to the bosonic class? I thought fermions are regular particles as we know it and bosons are force-carrying particles?
 
  • #11
Originally posted by Decker
Why would that be possible? Is it just saying that they could levitate by using resistance that didn't lose energy? Or something to that effect?
Its simply a matter of friction. A train that doesn't touch the tracks has only air resistance to worry about.
 
  • #12
Originally posted by russ_watters
Its simply a matter of friction. A train that doesn't touch the tracks has only air resistance to worry about.

I see...I get that part...but I just don't get how a superconductor (to my understanding, something that can carry energy close to 100% efficiency) could make something have no friction.
 
  • #13
Well, if that superconductor has magnetic properties..
 
  • #14
the train will have no friction because it is not touching the tracks, but floating ABOVE them.
 
  • #15
I understand that it wouldn't have friction, because it would levitate. What in the world would make it levitate? Sorry if it's a dumb question.

PS: Is that you in your pic Monique? Lookin sharp!
 
  • #16
Originally posted by Decker
I understand that it wouldn't have friction, because it would levitate. What in the world would make it levitate?

It levitates due to electromagnetic repulsion.
 
  • #17
Originally posted by Monique
What I don't understand: how do rubidium atoms belong to the bosonic class? I thought fermions are regular particles as we know it and bosons are force-carrying particles?

Bosons are particles that behave according to Bose-Einstein statistics. It turns out that this is equivalent to saying that "bosons are particles with an integer spin" (as opposed to being 1/2, 3/2, etc).

When atoms (which are, in general, fermions) form pairs, they may do so in such a way that their spins are "aligned" and add up to an integer, which makes the system behave as a boson.
 
  • #18
This is what I found on the http://www.4hv.org/archive/topic.177.html":

A superconductor is perfectly diamagnetic which means it expels a magnetic field (Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect). Earnshaw's theorem does not apply to diamagnetics as they behave like "anti-magnets": they align ANTI-parallel to magnetic lines while the magnets meant in the theorem always try to align in parallel as iron does (paramagnetics). In diamagnetics, electrons adjust their trajectories to compensate the influence of the external magnetic field and this results in an induced magnetic field which is directed in the opposite direction. It means that the induced magnetic moment is antiparallel to the external field. Superconductors are diamagnetics with the macroscopic change in trajectories (screening current at the surface).
I wonder what would happen with someone with a pace-maker if they come close to a maglev (magnetic levitation) train?
 
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