The kinetic particle theory explains what properties different states of matter possess. Matter, which consists of solids, liquids and gases, all emit varied amounts of energy. This is due to the fact that their particles are arranged differently, as you can see from the table below.
| Solid | Liquid | Gases | |
| Particle arrangement | The particles are arranged close together in a regular pattern. | The particles are close together and randomly placed. | The particles are far apart and randomly spaced. |
| Particle movement | They vibrate in a fixed position. | They’re able to move around each other. | They’re able to move quickly around in all directions. |
| Properties | Due to the particles fixed position and being so tightly packed together solids have a fixed shape, cannot flow, and are not possible to squash or compress. | Liquids are able to flow and take the shape of containers if poured into one as the particles are able to move around. However, like solids they can’t be squashed or compressed because they’re still too close together so there’s no extra space for them to move into. | Gases can flow into containers and completely fill them as their particles are moving all over the place in every direction. They can also be squashed and compressed because the particles have extra space to move into as they’re so far apart from each other |
gas
evaporation ? ? condensation
liquid
melting ? ? freezing
solid