ChatterBank0 min ago
Gas or liquid?
If I boild 3 kg of water into steam, will the steam weigh 3 kg as well? Why are most stuff transported in the form of liquid rather than gas?
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.There is a common confusion between mass and weight. Mass is how much matter is present and is measured in Kg, weight is the gravitational force and is measured in Newtons.
a 1Kg mass of lead weighs about 10 Newtons on Earth, It is still 1Kg on the moon but weighs considerably less about 1.6 Newtons
Similarly 3 Kg of water is still 3 Kg whether it is solid, liquid or gas however as a gas it takes up a hugely greater volume and because of this it is bouyed up more by the air.
Imagine a baloon filled with steam, in a vacuum it would weigh about 30 Newtons, now let the air in and it will weigh 30 Newtons less the weight of the air it displaces.
So things certainly weigh less (in air) when they are gasses but imagine trying to transport 30Kg of water as steam - just imagine how big that would be!
p.s. if this is homework try to get your head around this and put it in your own words ;c)
And it's less dense because when it turns to a gas the forces that are binding the molecules together are overcome and they start flying around banging into air molecules, if they hit another water molecule it's with too much energy to stick.
As the temperature cools water molecules that colide do so with less energy and start to stick together forming what we scientists like to call clouds and rain