What is Liquid: Definition and 1000 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.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. S

    Thermal/fluid dynamics and liquid cooling a computer.

    Hello all, I am by no means a scientifically educated person. I am a network engineer by trade. As a hobby, I work on personal computers. That being said, I'm trying to find formulas for calculating what kind of cooling I can expect given a certain liquid cooling configuration. What is...
  2. K

    What could be causing the periodic voltage drop in my LCD projector's output?

    Hi there, I'm measuring the voltage on the output of an amplified photodiode circuit that is capturing light emitted by an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projector and there is a periodic voltage drop which I don't know the reason. The projector is projecting an all-white image. I've been...
  3. O

    Modelling Evaporation of a Liquid

    I'm looking for a general model that I can use to approximate the evaporation rate of a small pool of liquid. The purpose is to calculate the rate at which a few mL of liquid is evaporating at the bottom of a cylindrical test chamber for an experiment. I figured that I wouldn't have any trouble...
  4. S

    Pressure of liquid and evapouration of water

    When we suck a straw, we produce a vacuum in our mouths hence the atmospheric pressure on the outside is greater than of the liquid above the straw hence pushing the liquid up. But what if we arrest underwater and we open our mouth, why would water flow into it? Is it because our mouth has a...
  5. A

    Determining Capacity of Liquid Nitrogen Supply System

    Im working on an exisiting Ntirogen supply system that's used to blanket boilers and pipelines etc. at a thermal power plant. I am trying to determine the capacity of the system. I have determined the size of the liquid ntrogen tank to be 8m^3 but I'm lost on how to determine the amount of gas...
  6. L

    Discover a Game-Changing Sticky Expanding Liquid for Trapping Objects

    Hi I am new to physics and this website so forgive me if I am n the wrong section and kind of slow. Would it be possible to make some kind of sticky expanding liquid for trapping things in. I am thinking of a combination of quicksand and glue. This would be something that would be in a pit or...
  7. Ryan_m_b

    Can Emerging Battery Technologies Approach the Energy Density of Liquid Fuels?

    I've been reading a lot about solar power recently and far greater uses that could be unlocked if we only had a viable way of storing the energy. I've encountered the fact that no battery as yet comes close to rivaling liquid fuels for as energy as well as research pursuing artificial...
  8. Filip Larsen

    Live! Witness TM65 Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine Testing

    A livestream video feed from the event has started and can be accessed via the CS homepage [1] or the corresponding blog on Wired [2]. Some background information about CS can be found on [3] together with a (very) short description on the TM65 [4]. [1] http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/ [2]...
  9. V

    Why does liquid co2 goes back to solid at atmospheric press

    I you look at the phase diagram, CO2 is in liquid state at 5,11 atm and t= -56 C. But why does he convert directly to solid state at 1 atm? Again, if you go down from five to one atm, you should be in gaseous state ? Is it have something to do with temperature ? What happens with temperature...
  10. C

    Does energy storage in liquid air technology pass the laugh test?

    a UK company got $10M to build it, see here http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/liquid-air-for-utility-scale-energy-storage/ . Can this be at least hypothetically feasible or is it more like pure quackery for stupid investors? ETA: to clarify, I don't doubt that it would "work" the same...
  11. P

    Dynamic Liquid Level Changes in a Bent Tube

    Homework Statement A glass tube is bent into a rectangular "U". Find expressions for the difference in the height hbetween the tops of the liquid columns when (a) the tube has linear acceleration a in the direction of the x-axis, (b) when the tube has uniform angular velocity ω about the...
  12. A

    Acid-Base Titrations and Liquid Soap

    I am doing an acid-base titration on liquid soap. I understand that buffers are used in soap. Would that affect the results of my titration? If so, how would I overcome this? Arthur.
  13. B

    Help with Compressibility of liquid and relation to pressure

    Homework Statement Assume that the distance across a microscopic cell is larger than the correlation length of the liquid, so whatever is happening in one cell is statistically uncorrelated with what is happening in an adjacent cell. Further, assume that each cell has two distinct possible...
  14. J

    Will level of liquid increase if ice melts in it?

    How will the level of liqid change if ice melts in it? If its water then there is no change - i know this will happen but i don't understand it( intuitively ) Moving on to other liquids - like oil and mercury - what will happen to their levels? Please help me understand I actually did...
  15. E

    Use the density of the liquid to estimate the radius of a neon atom.

    Homework Statement Neon is a monatomic gas; Density = 0.900 kg.m-3 Pressure = 1 atm Temperature = 273K. Density of liquid neon = 1207 kg.m-3 (i) Calculate the volume occupied by one gram mole of neon at a temperature of 273 K and a pressure of 1 atm. (ii) Determine the atomic...
  16. G

    Should liquid helium at 4 K be treated as indistinguishable particles?

    Homework Statement a) Should liquid water at room temperature be treated as indistinguishable particles? b) Should liquid helium at 4 K be treated as indistinguishable particles? The attempt at a solution Composite particles made up of spin 1/2 particles such as atoms made up of...
  17. E

    Atomic density of argon in liquid and gas form

    Homework Statement Argon (atomic weight 40) exists as a monatomic gas at room temperature and pressure. The density of liquid argon is 1784 kg m−3. (a) Calculate the atomic density (atoms m−3) in liquid argon. (b) Calculate the atomic density (atoms m−3) in gaseous argon at a pressure...
  18. Q

    Will Dishwasher Liquid Affect Blood Samples?

    Hii..i have a question maybe it seems a stupid question but I should know answer. We use syringe to take a blood samples and transfer liquids out of the body. I’m talking about take a blood samples with syringe.. Anyway The needle is used to pierce the top layer of the skin, and we can take a...
  19. B

    Electrochemistry and liquid junctions

    I have Pt(s)/H2(g)/HBr(aq)/AgBr(s)/Ag(s) The question asks why a liquid junction is not necessary. So I know AgBr is insoluble in water, and AgBr coats the silver metal. I just don't understand why it does not matter that the Br- anions from AgBr mixing with the H+ cations doesn't necessitate...
  20. R

    How Does Polarization Affect Light Intensity in a Liquid-Filled Cylinder?

    Homework Statement A cylinder with the length 20cm and radius of 5cm is filled with liquid. The refractive index of the cylinder, its surrounding and the liquid is 1.3. A polarization wave is given in the fluid: E=Eo*exp( i *(ωt-kz)) \hat{x} +c.c. The wave is induced by light with a...
  21. S

    Nonlinear conductive liquid metal

    Hi Does nonlinear conductive liquid metal exist? Which and where? thx
  22. R

    MATLAB Solving Speed of Sound in a Liquid - Matlab Experiment

    The following is part of an experiment about the speed of sound in different depths of a liquid, I'm trying to solve it in Matlab. http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5952/20120408201206.jpg Here is my attempt: clc clf N=13; d=1900:-100:700; t=[2.62 2.37 2.35 2.25 2.09 1.86...
  23. F

    A liquid matter from a solid matter with a help of ultrasound?

    Good morning, I would like to ask you... Is it possible to make a liquid matter from a solid matter with a help of ultrasound? At first, what happens if the ultrasound travels through a solid matter (for example quartz)? What happens to a solid matter during a positive amplitude (compression)...
  24. S

    How can I quantify/qualify liquid helium boil off rates based on dewar/cryostat size?

    I've been looking at various papers which describe the mechanisms and provide calculations describing heat flow into helium. I'm trying to minimize helium loss and am in the market for a new dewar flask/cryostat. I plan on asking the supply companies directly what the proper dimensions are to...
  25. X

    U-tube filled with water and inmiscible liquid

    Homework Statement A U-shaped tube is partly filled with water and partly filled with a liquid that does not mix with water. Both sides of the tube are open to the atmosphere. If h1 = 0.52 m and h2 = 0.16 m, what is the density of the liquid? Homework Equations ρ_{u}=h_{1}/h_{2} *...
  26. E

    Find Apparent depth due to a non-homogenous liquid

    THE ACTUAL PROBLEM: A vessel of depth H is filled with a non-homogenous liquid whose refractive index varies with y as u=(2 -(y/H)), where y is measured from bottom of the vessel. Find the apparent depth as seen by an observer from above? (Paraxial approximation is allowed) RELEVANT...
  27. S

    Regime of Fermi gas or liquid?

    Hi, I was wondering if anyone could clarify for me what the correct regime is for treating the electrons in a material as a Fermi gas. When is it that you must use Fermi liquid theory?
  28. F

    How does a supercritical fluid look like? Like a gas or like a liquid?

    Hello Forum, I have been studying phase diagrams. If a pure substance is brought to a temperature and pressure above the critical T and P, it becomes a supercritical fluid, i.e. a substance having properties of liquids and of gases... But how does it look to us? More like a liquid or like a...
  29. F

    [Help]How to separate spin glass and spin liquid experimentally?

    I have a pyrochlore antiferromagnetic system. In AC magnetic susceptibility measurements, there is a cusp at 4 K whose frequency dependence follows a spin-glass behavior. There is a cusp at around 5 K in magnetic heat capacity, also suggesting a spin-glass transition. But in neutron...
  30. M

    Linear drag in a liquid and terminal velocity

    Homework Statement An object moving in a liquid experiences a linear drag force: D =(bv, direction opposite the motion), where b is a constant called the drag coefficient. For a sphere of radius R, the drag constant can be computed as b = 6 pi n R, where n is the viscosity of the liquid...
  31. D

    Why are liquid surfaces at constant pressure?

    This is probably a stupid question with a simple answer, but please bear with me. Suppose we have a bucket of water that we begin to spin at a constant angular speed. My textbook asked to find the shape of the surface of water, with the hint that the surface would be a surface of constant...
  32. J

    Constructing a Liquid Mirror using gallium,Indium, tin alloy

    Hi, I am an an artist hoping that you scientists can kindly help me with some advice. I am making a simple liquid mirror as part of a project about reflected image. It will spin and stop and spin and stop etc. I have made a polyester resin parabola as a receptical (so that I can use less...
  33. M

    Change volume and pressure of a given amount of liquid?

    hello! is it totally true that there is no way to change the volume and pressure of a given amount of liquid? thanks!
  34. R

    Gas liquid contact in stripping column

    \frac{x[Ain]-x[Aout][/SUB][/SUB]}{x[Ain]-x[out][/SUB][/SUB]}=\frac{\sum s^{K}-1}{\sum s^K} (1) for k = 0 to n Final result...
  35. H

    Time to stop oscillation in liquid medium

    Homework Statement Suppose an object of mass .505 kg was oscillating with initial Emec = 1.12 J at the end of a spring, and the system was submersed in a liquid medium that absorbed energy at a steady rate of .250 m2/s * spring constant (29.6 N/m). How long would it take the spring to stop...
  36. P

    Calculating the coefficent of volume expansion of liquid?

    I can't seem to figure out this question. A Thermometer is filled with unknown liquid. It has a square bulb and a stem with cylinder shape. It is found that the volume of the liquid increased by 40% when the temperature changes by 15 Celsius. Calculate the coefficient of expansion of volume...
  37. S

    What happens to an accelerated liquid

    Hello, I have no idea how to do the attached problem. Could you please help me out? Thanks!
  38. A

    What is the Fermi energy of Liquid He3 at absolute zero?

    Homework Statement The atom He^3 has spin 1/2 and is a fermion. The density of liquid He^3 is 0.081g/cm^3 near absolute zero. Calculate the Fermi energy \epsilon_F and the Fermi temperature T_F Homework Equations \epsilon_F = \frac{\hbar^2}{2m}(\frac{3 \pi^2 N}{V})^{2/3} T_F =...
  39. H

    What happens to wavelength of sound in liquid?

    We know that speed of sound in liquid is more than in air. Also, velocity of sound = wavelength X frequency. Now there's a change in speed of sound from air to liquid, so, wavelength or frequency should have got changed... But, generally, frequency won't change for an object (correct me...
  40. S

    FTIR:What is the proper instrument for liquid samples?

    Hi everyone; I read some of FTIR threads in forums and they were at the different parts of forums so I decided that it's the best place for this question. But if I am wrong please move the thread. I'm new for FTIR measurements. First of all I want to say that I'm doing this kind of...
  41. E

    Accurately dispense liquid volumes

    I am considering the economic viability of a project that must accurately (within a tolerance of, say, 0.5ml) dispense volumes of water from a tank at a constant volumetric flow rate of around 50ml/s. Within the tank, the water may be held at pressures between 1 and 6bar; and at temperatures...
  42. D

    All matter being liquid in 10^65 years if proton decay doesn't occur.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future
  43. K

    Anyone can give me ideas of how to find resistance of a liquid

    How to find copper sulphate resistance. I know that with the increase on concentration to the solution the resistance will decrease because of less water in it and water is a conductor of electricity but i want to know if there is a method of finding the resistance. I was thinking to place...
  44. K

    Need help in how to find the resistance of a liquid

    How to find copper sulphate resistance. I know that with the increase on concentration to the solution the resistance will decrease because of less water in it and water is a conductor of electricity but i want to know if there is a method of finding the resistance. I was thinking to place...
  45. L

    Is the surface tension of a liquid droplet stable?

    Hi all, Typically, we know that the surface tension for water is about 72mN/m at RT. so do this mean that the surface tension over the whole droplet is exactly the same? Moreover, we know that the Laplace pressure may be different over the whole droplet as the curvature in different parts...
  46. T

    Vapor pressure and the boiling point of a liquid

    I'm not totally sure this topic should be placed in this forum, since it is not specifically solid state. Anyways, my question is simply why is there a correlation between vapor pressure and the boiling point of a substance, I would have thought that the boiling point would be at any...
  47. B

    Toxicity in reactions between liquid paraffin and polyurethane/polyethylene

    Hello, Would putting liquid paraffin (C_{n}H_{2n + 2}) in either a polyurethane or polyethylene bladder (such as a camelbak hydration bladder) create any compounds that have a higher toxicity than that of paraffin itself? I know that all petroleum distillates act as weak solvents and I'm...
  48. S

    Standing wave interference patterns on liquid metals

    Hi, first post, so take it easy on me, I've had an idea for producing metallic objects with high surface area for several years, but lack the necessary physics knowledge to act on it or, really, inclination (and money) to go through years of school to gain such. The idea is as follows: A...
  49. P

    How much liquid water can be produced through condensation in one day

    I am working on a desalinization project and need technical advice. These are the basics: If I have a 1,000 sq ft pool of heated water, covered with a chilled baffle, then enclosed in a greenhouse, how much liquid water can I produce through condensation in one day? Any ideas or feedback...
  50. S

    Understanding Fluid Dynamics: Free Surface of Liquid and Uniform Acceleration

    A container filled up to about 2/3rd's with water moves with a unifrom acceleration of 'a' due to a force 'F'. Considering the fact that the defining property of a fluid requires that it's free surface be normal to the net force acting on it, how can the liquid's free surface make an angle given...
Back
Top