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States of matter are emergent. A single atom cannot be said to be a gas, liquid or solid, only a sufficiently large group of them.
by tlb 13y ago
States of matter are emergent. A single atom cannot be said to be a gas, liquid or solid, only a sufficiently large group of them.
- jfoutz 13y agoA single unconnected atom would be a gas, right?
- araes 13y agoNo, a single, unconnected atom would be just that. The ideas of solid, liquid, gas, plasma, Bose Einstein Condensate, ect... are defined by the interactions of atoms in varying energy states and degrees of freedom.
- sliverstorm 13y agoStill, a snowflake is not a state of matter. You cannot say "Oh if we increase the pressure it will enter phase X and thus the snowflake state of matter". It is built upon a state of matter (crystaline solid), no?
- saraid216 13y agoA snowflake is second-tier emergence (this is a made-up term). Hydrogen and oxygen atoms do not have states of matter. Water molecules, as collections of H and O atoms in specific arrangements, have states of matter. Snowflakes are collections of water molecules in specific arrangements and in specific states of matter. A snowman. A family of snowmen. The general practice of creating snowmen. And so on and so on.
- sliverstorm 13y agoRight, so the ice is not a snowflake, but the snowflake is made of ice. Similarly, organic chemicals are not a consciousness, but a consciousness emerges (we think) in a lump of organic chemicals. Do you disagree? P.S. A snowman isn't exactly an emergent property. Now, an avalanche system might be...