Question

In science class you will do an experiment to turn a substance into different states of matter.You start with the substance in the sold state and you add thermal energy to turn it into a liquid .The bell rings and you leave the substance for the day. The next day you return and find that the substance in all gone

Answer 1

It sounds like you're describing a scenario involving changes in the states of matter and a mysterious disappearance of the substance. Here's a possible explanation for what might have happened:

When you added thermal energy to the substance, it changed from a solid state to a liquid state, which is a common phase transition known as melting. This happened because the added heat increased the kinetic energy of the particles in the substance, causing them to move more freely and transition into the liquid phase.

However, if you left the liquid substance exposed to the environment overnight without any containment or a controlled environment, it's possible that it underwent further phase changes. For example:

1. Evaporation: If the substance was volatile and had a low boiling point, some of it might have evaporated into the gas phase, leaving less liquid behind.

2. Sublimation: Some substances can undergo sublimation, transitioning directly from a solid to a gas without passing through the liquid phase. If this occurred, the substance would have turned into a gas and dispersed into the air.

So, the disappearance of the substance could be attributed to its conversion into a gas through either evaporation or sublimation, depending on the specific properties of the substance and the environmental conditions.