Question

Complete this paragraph, which describes an ice cube changing from a solid to a liquid to a gas. AB Water can exist in three states of matter. Imagine examining the changes of state from solid to liquid to gas by adding thermal energy to ice. What would change or not change? As water changes state, the mass of the sample does not change the size of the water molecules does not change However, the spacing of the water molecules does change.

Answer 1

Adding thermal energy to an ice cube causes changes in its state from solid to liquid to gas. The mass and size of water molecules stay constant, but the spacing between them increases as kinetic energy rises with temperature, leading to different states with varying densities and entropy levels.

Step-by-step explanation:

As thermal energy is added to an ice cube, its state changes from solid to liquid to gas. During this process, while the mass of the water and the size of the water molecules remain the same, the spacing of the water molecules increases. This is due to the kinetic molecular theory (KMT), which explains changes of state in terms of motion of particles and the kinetic energy they possess. As the temperature increases, the kinetic energy of the water molecules also increases, causing the molecules to move further apart. At 0°C, ice begins to melt, transitioning to a liquid without a rise in temperature as the added energy breaks apart the hydrogen bonding in the solid state. On further heating past the boiling point, water becomes gas (steam) and its density decreases significantly, with entropy of the system increasing substantially.