5 | The Different States of Water

The Different States of Water

  • Water is a unique substance because it exists in all three states in different parts of the earth.
  • In most places, water exists as a liquid. For example, as rain, in rivers and oceans, and as groundwater.
  • At the north and south poles, and in many mountainous regions, water exists as a solid, which we call ice.
  • Perhaps less obviously, water also exists in the air around us, as a gas, known as water vapour.
  • We cannot see water vapour because it is invisible, but we can often feel its effects, especially in humid areas like the tropics, where we might describe the air as feeling ‘humid’, ‘sticky’ or ‘muggy’.
  • Humidity is a measure of how much water, in the form of water vapour, is in the air.
  • Like water, most substances can exist in three states.
  • For example, the metal iron is normally a solid. You may have seen pictures of molten iron, for example, in a furnace – this is iron in liquid form. But did you know that iron can also exist as a gas? (In the next lesson we will look at how this is possible.)

 
states of water ice vapour

Water exists in all three states on Earth.

(Image: Free-Photos, Pixabay)