• papalonian@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I asked my chem professor this question last semester. He said that single molecules are considered gases.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      Which is an interesting thing, actually! States of matter are not related to the molecules themselves, but how they interact with themselves. It’s an emergent property! Not something intrinsic!

      • papalonian@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yup. The way he explained it was that it is technically a free flowing substance that is “expanding” to “fill” the container it is in. The density would be impossibly low, but the entire container would be said to be filled with the molecule