Name: _________________________________
Examining the 3 states of Matter and Some…
Background Information:
There are 3 main states of matter. Solids, liquids, and gases are all different states of matter. Each of these states
is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to another phase when special
physical forces are present. One example of those forces is temperature. The phase or state of matter can
change when the temperature changes. Generally, as the temperature rises, matter moves to a more active state.
Phase describes a physical state of matter. The key word to notice is physical. Things only move from one
phase to another by physical means. If energy is added (like increasing the temperature or increasing pressure)
or if energy is taken away (like freezing something or decreasing pressure) you have created a physical change.
One compound or element can move from phase to phase, but still be the same substance. You can see water vapor over a
boiling pot of water. That vapor (or gas) can condense and become a drop of water. If you put that drop in the freezer, it
would become a solid. No matter what phase it was in, it was always water. It always had the same chemical properties.
On the other hand, a chemical change would change the way the water acted, eventually making it not water, but
something completely new.
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. How are the particles arranged differently for each of the 3 phases of matter? What does this have to do with
energy?
2. Is altering the state a matter a physical change or a chemical change? Explain your answer with an example.
3. What is unique about volume for each of the phases of matter?
Directions:
1. In this lab you will be testing three mixtures/solutions to determine what properties they have of
solid/liquid/gas. First you can make all of the mixtures as shown below. Have all the members in your
group make at least one of the mixtures/solutions
How to Make the 3 Mixtures/Solutions:
Oobleck
75 g cornstarch
30 mL water
Add the water to the sandwich bag. Next, slowly add the cornstarch a little at a time to the water. Knead
the bag to mix the substances together, making sure all of the cornstarch is wet. You may need to add a
little more or less cornstarch so that the oobleck has a consistency light enough so it will flow through
your fingers but solid enough to squeeze.
Goop
30 mL white glue
30 mL borax solution
Squeeze approximately 30 mL of white glue [not the glue mixture] into one corner of a zipper-type
sandwich bag. Add 30 mL of borax solution. Seal the bag and then knead the contents until a new
substance is formed. Make certain both substances are thoroughly mixed together.
Glurch
30 mL Liquid Starch
30 mL Glue Mixture
1g table salt
Mix the starch and table salt together in the sandwich bag. Knead the bag for 2-3 minutes until the
substances are well mixed. Then add the white glue mixture, again kneading the bad until the
substances are well mixed. When a lump forms and it is hard to knead, take the lump out of the bag and
squeeze out any excess liquid into a waste container.
2. Now that you have made the mixtures/solutions, you must test the 3 materials to determine some of the
unique properties about them. You need to come up with at least 3 tests to try on the 3
mixtures/solutions to help you determine what they are. These tests can be stretching, rolling, pancaking,
cutting, fitting them into a container, etc. As a group, come up with 3 tests and enter them in the first
row of your data table on the next page. These must be measureable (distance, time, etc.).
3. Now go through and perform your 3 tests on the 3 substances you have. Make sure to record accurate
data, for you will use this data in your analysis questions.
4. Also fill out the last column of the chart that asked for unique properties of each of the substances.
Please be specific!
Substance
Test 1:
Test 2:
Test 3:
Unique Properties
Oobleck
Goop
Glurch
Information on Non-Newtonian Substances:
Some materials do not conform neatly to the designations for solids, liquids, and gases. For example, a colloid
is a material that consists of one substance suspended within another. The suspended material is comprised of
particles so small that they don’t sink to the bottom of the second substance. Together, the two materials display
properties unlike those of their separate components. Some examples: smoke (a solid suspended in a gas), fog (a
liquid suspended in a gas), meringue (a gas suspended in a liquid), protoplasm, homogenized milk, synthetic
rubber, and mayonnaise. The Oobleck is an example of a colloid of starch and water. Starch molecules are long
chains of simple sugar molecules. Long chains of molecules formed from repeated units are called polymers.
The repeating units are called monomers. Starch is naturally occurring polymer made by many organisms on
Earth and it is used as cellular food storage since the sugar monomers it is made of can be broken off the long
chain and used for energy. In water the long starch chains assume a globular shape. The globular starch
molecules can become entangled when the they are suspended in water. This entanglement leads to the odd
properties of the Oobleck.
The Glurch is an artificial polymer. White glue is a polymer of a chemical called vinyl alcohol. The long chains
of polyvinyl alcohol can flow around and over each other. When you add borax solution to the polymer it
causes what is called cross-linking. This makes it harder for the long chains to flow past each other. The
stickiness which slows their movement is caused by hydrogen bonds: chemical bonds that have a certain
strength but which are easily broken and reformed elsewhere.
Analysis Questions:
1) From the reading, is smoke heterogeneous or homogeneous? Explain your answer.
2) From the reading, is fog heterogeneous or homogeneous? Explain your answer.
3) What happened in the Sodium Acetate example?
4) How are all 3 substances similar? What properties do they all share?
5) What state of matter is Oobleck? Use your data and the reading to support your answer!
6) What state of matter is Goop? Use your data and the reading to support your answer!
7) What state of matter is Glurch? Use your data and the reading to support your answer!
8) If you were to create a 4th state of matter, how would you describe it based on your results?
9) Are these substances mixtures, compounds or elements?
10) Are these substances homogeneous or heterogeneous?