Liquid Crystals and Electronic Calculators
Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. The term refers to all real objects in the natural world, such as marbles, rocks, ice crystals, oxygen gas, water, hair, and cabbage. The term ‘states of matter’ refers to the four physical forms in which matter can occur: solid, liquid, gaseous, and plasma. Our understanding of the nature of matter is based on certain assumptions about the particles of which matter is composed and the properties of those particles. This understanding is summarized in the kinetic theory of matter according to which, all matter is composed of tiny particles. These particles can be atoms, molecules, ions, or some combination of these basic particles. Therefore, if it were possible to look at the tiniest units of which a piece of aluminum metal is composed, one would be able to observe aluminum atoms. Similarly, the smallest unit of a sugar crystal is thought to be a molecule of sugar.
The fundamental particles of which matter is composed are always in motion. Those particles may rotate on their own axes, vibrate back and forth around a certain definite point, travel through space like bullets, or display all three kinds of motion. The various states of matter differ from each other on the basis of their motion. In general, the particles of which solids are made move very slowly, liquid particles move more rapidly, and gaseous particles move much more rapidly than either solid or liquid particles. The particles of which plasma are made have special properties.
Solid, liquid, and gas: these are the three most common forms of matter. But some materials do not fit neatly into one of these three categories. Liquid crystals are one