Theory

Kinetic Theory! Kinetic = movement. Kinetic theory can be used to explain what happens when a substance changes from one state to another, for example when ice melted to become water. The main points of the kinetic theory are: • All matter is made of particles. There are particles in all materials-glass, wood, paper. • The individual particles are very small. • The particles of different substances have different sizes. Particle of elements such as aluminium iron and oxygen …

…apart. The forces between the particles are not as strong. Liquid particles can move around each other. So liquids can change their shape but they keep a fixed volume. • I n a gas the particles are much further apart. There are no forces to hold the particles together. The particles rush around in all direction in all the space that they can find. So gases change their shape and their volume depending on their container.