The key difference between Liquid State and Gaseous State is that the liquid state has stronger intermolecular forces between molecules when compared to the gaseous state. In fact, the gaseous state has less or no intermolecular forces.
There are three major states or phases of matter as gas phase, liquid phase and solid phase. These states of matter have many differences between them including the appearance, physical properties and chemical properties as well. Here, we will be discussing specifically, the difference between liquid state and gaseous state based on the characteristic properties of each.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Liquid State
3. What is Gaseous State
4. Side by Side Comparison – Liquid State vs Gaseous State in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Liquid State?
Liquid state is a state or phase of matter that has stronger intermolecular forces between molecules than that of a gas and weak intermolecular forces than that of a solid. Though there are considerable intermolecular forces, a liquid does not have a definite shape. It obtains the shape of the container in which the liquid exists. This, mainly because, the intermolecular forces between molecules are not strong enough to keep a definite shape. However, a liquid has a definite volume.
Figure 01: Liquid State
Compared to solids and gases, the intermolecular spaces between liquid molecules are moderate. However, there are intermolecular spaces that allow the molecules to move here and there. Also, the compressibility of a liquid is nearly difficult. The arrangement of molecules in a liquid is random, and the molecule arranges sparsely. Apart from that, a liquid can flow from a higher level to a lower level. In particular, we cannot store a liquid without a container. When considering the molecular motion, there exists Brownian motion in a liquid.
What is Gaseous State?
Gaseous state is a state or phase of matter that has weak or no intermolecular forces between molecules than that of a liquid or a solid. A gas does not have any shape; it just fills up the whole space inside the container where it exists. Moreover, it has no definite volume. Also, unlike liquids and solids, we can easily compress gases.
Figure 02: Molecules in a Gaseous State
When considering the arrangement of molecules in a gaseous state, the molecules arrange in a random manner and more sparsely than liquids. Specifically, substances in gaseous state, have considerably high fluidity which makes it able to flow in all directions. The gaseous state shows free and random molecular motions. This is due to the presence of large intermolecular spaces between the molecules. In particular, substances in gaseous state requires closed containers for the storage.
What is the Difference Between Liquid State and Gaseous State?
Liquid state is a state or phase of matter that has stronger intermolecular forces between molecules than that of a gas and weak intermolecular forces than that of a solid whereas gaseous state is a state or phase of matter that has weak or no intermolecular forces between molecules than that of a liquid or a solid. This is the key difference between liquid state and gaseous state.
Other than this key difference between liquid state and gaseous state, there are several differences between the two states of matter in their shape, volume, fluidity, molecular motion, compressibility, etc. The below infographic summarizes the difference between liquid state and gaseous state in more detail.
Summary – Liquid State vs Gaseous State
Among the three major states of matter, we discussed the liquid state and gaseous state in this article. To summarize; the key difference between liquid state and gaseous state is that the liquid state has stronger intermolecular forces between molecules when compared to gaseous state. Whereas, the gaseous state has less or no intermolecular forces.