7 states of matter??!!

We are used to learning three states of matter. Few people know about 4th state which is plasma. But I bet you might not have heard that there are 7 states of matter.

1. Let us start with Liquid ??.
2. If we keep heating a liquid, we will get Gas ??. The amount of energy required to convert a substance from liquid to gas depends on the substance itself and the pressure as well as temperature.

Further heating will give us plasma ?? which appears at extremely high temperatures. That is what is seen in the Thunderbolt ?.

3. Plasmas are made of elementary particles Protons, neutrons and electrons formed like soup due to high temperature.

Plasmas have found their way into industrial applications like plasma cutters and in medical applications for sterilizations. Plasma globes are also a part of interior decor and a toy for nerds.

When particles are smashed at extremely high speeds in either

A) particle collider or

B) during the first few seconds after the big bang,

the temperatures become hyper-high and ultra-high energy densities are reached. These are the conditions under which the 5th state of matter is formed. Under those conditions, the neutrons and protons further get broken into their elementary form quarks and

5. Quark-Gluon Plasmas are formed.

Well, this is the max the matter can be souped into with high energy and temperature.

To obtain the remaining two states of matter, Instead of heating we need to cool the matter down.

Understanding the 6th and 7th states of matter requires you to know what are Bosons and Fermions

According to the Standard Model, which is not just the newest atomic model but in fact, a model for the whole of physics, the particles are divided into two categories.

A) integer spin (0, +-1, +-2,....) particles called Bosons and

B) half-integer spin particles (+-1/2, +-3/2, +-5/2,...) called Fermions.

You might have seen water forming droplets on the surface of a cold glass of water during the rainy season. This phenomenon is called condensation.

When Bosons (ex: He-4) is cooled close to 0 kelvin a BEC (Bose-Einstein Condensate) is formed.

6. Bose-Einstein Condensates show quantum behaviour as a bulk and behave strangely, like a superfluid with properties like zero viscosity.

When fermions are supercooled (ex. He-3) they can behave as if they disobey Pauli's exclusion principle.

7. Fermionic Condensates are similar to BEC but made of fermions. Examples of such condensate include cooper pair.

Read the following paragraph to know more about the 6th and 7th states.

Think of bosons (particles that form BECs) as friendly particles that don't mind sharing the same space. When it gets very cold, these bosons gather together and start behaving like one big group. It's as if they all become identical and like to hang out in the same place. Even though individually they don't follow the rule of "no sharing the same state, which is Pauli's exclusion principle which applies to only fermions" as a group, they become a cooperative bunch and start acting like a single entity.

On the other hand, fermions (particles in fermionic condensates) are a bit pickier. They have a rule that says, "No two of us can be in the exact same state at the same time." However, under certain special circumstances, some fermions form pairs where they hold hands and act as a team. These pairs can then behave as if they are a single particle that doesn't mind being in the same state as its partner. While individually they follow the rule of "no sharing," as pairs, they can make an exception and act as one.

In both cases, the behaviour of these particles changes when they come together and form condensates. They start acting differently from what they would normally do as separate particles. This collective behaviour is what makes Bose-Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates special and interesting to study.

Here is a tabulated summary of the article.

The question remains, Should we teach these to students?

My answer is yes. Focus on the traditional three states, but you can use this as a gimmick to attract their attention. Rest assured, the curious ones will love you for this.