Is Hydrogen Combustion a Solid or Liquid?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the classification of materials, specifically whether certain substances, such as a shirt and smoke, can be categorized as solids or liquids. Participants explore the characteristics that define solids and liquids, including their ability to conform to the shape of a container and the nature of molecular interactions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that a shirt is a solid despite its ability to take the shape of a container, citing the locked molecular structure of cloth.
  • Others propose that smoke consists of tiny solid particles suspended in air, thus classifying it as a solid.
  • A participant introduces the idea of liquid smoke as a by-product of combustion, suggesting it could consist of tiny liquid droplets suspended in air.
  • There is a discussion about the inadequacy of using the ability to conform to a container as a definitive characteristic for classifying states of matter.
  • One participant describes smoke more precisely as a colloid, a mixture of solid and gas or liquid and gas.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the classification of materials, particularly regarding smoke and its composition. There is no consensus on the definitions or classifications presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants rely on varying definitions and interpretations of states of matter, which may lead to ambiguity in classification. The discussion also touches on the complexity of mixtures and colloids, which may not be fully resolved.

wasteofo2
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Well? Is something like a shirt considered a solid, even though it can easily take the shape of it's container?
 
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My instincts say 'solid.' Thin gold leaf is likewise very flexible, but also solid in my book.
 
Think of it this way, if you try to cram a shirt, or any material, in a container there will still be air pockets, thus not complete conformity. Also, the molecules of cloth are locked and cannot freely move about and slide past each other. Vote: Solid
 
Solid!

A liquid is free flowing.

Here's a brain buster:

Smoke, a solid, or liquid, or gas?

OUUU. This one is rather interesting!
 
Well I vote a complex malleable porous solid.
 
Cloth is most definitely solid.

Smoke is primarily composed of micron sized carbon particles - these are solid.
 
Smoke is solid. It is tiny solid particles suspended in air.

I suppose there could be liquid smoke - a by-product of combustion that takes the form of tiny liquid droplets suspended in air, but I am not familiar with anything that would produce it.

Gasses could never be considered smoke, since all gasses are infinitely miscible.

Njorl
 
More precisely smoke is a colloid: mixture of solid and gas or liquid and gas, basically a mixture of components in different phases.

Example of liquid smoke: steam coming out of the tea cooker :-p basically a mist (mist is a colloid).
 
Addressing the original question, the ability to take the shape of the container is a poor way to characterize the state of matter. The distinction is made on the basis of inter-atomic/inter-molecular interactions. The strength of these interactions is manifest in macroscopic properties such as viscosity.
 
  • #10
wasteofo2 said:
Well? Is something like a shirt considered a solid, even though it can easily take the shape of it's container?
What happens if the container is bigger than the shirt.. it won't take take the shape of the container..
 
  • #11
Njorl said:
I suppose there could be liquid smoke - a by-product of combustion that takes the form of tiny liquid droplets suspended in air, but I am not familiar with anything that would produce it.
Hydrogen in oxygen?
 

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