Final answer:
True, any material can form an amorphous solid if cooled rapidly enough to prevent the orderly arrangement of particles, leading to a solid with randomly arranged atoms, ions, or molecules.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that 'Any material can form an amorphous solid, if the cooling rate is fast enough to suppress crystal formation' is largely true. When most liquids are cooled down, they tend to freeze and form crystalline solids, where atoms, ions, or molecules are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern. However, if a liquid is cooled quickly enough, the molecules may not have time to arrange themselves in this orderly pattern and instead form an amorphous solid or noncrystalline solid, sometimes called glass. The particles in these solids are randomly arranged without an ordered internal structure.
Metals and ionic compounds typically form crystalline solids, while substances like candle waxes, which are composed of larger molecules or a mix of molecules with restricted movement, often form amorphous solids. Some substances, such as silicon dioxide, can form either crystalline or amorphous solids, depending on how they are produced. Moreover, amorphous solids may transition into a crystalline state under suitable conditions.
Properties of solids also differ between crystalline and amorphous forms. Crystalline solids have a precise melting temperature, whereas amorphous solids don't have a distinct melting point but soften over a range of temperatures. This behavior is due to the structural nonequivalence of the molecules in amorphous solids, wherein different intermolecular forces have different strength.