Question

What states of matter can flow?

Answer 1

Matter can exist in one of three main states: solid, liquid, or gas. Solid matter is composed of tightly packed particles. A solid will retain its shape; the particles are not free to move around. Liquid matter is made of more loosely packed particles. It will take the shape of its container. Particles can move about within a liquid, but they are packed densely enough that volume is maintained. Gaseous matter is composed of particles packed so loosely that it has neither a definite shape nor a definite volume. A gas can be compressed.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Liquids flow because the particles in a liquid are not very tightly bound to each other and they have high intermolecular spaces between them, which allows the particles to be displaced or move causing the liquids to flow. Gas behaves like a liquid; the particles are moving but are still attracted to each other, so they still flow. Unlike a solid or a liquid, the gas will try to fill whatever container it is in, adapting its volume accordingly.
The molecules of gases and liquids are present far apart from each other. In other words, they have more gaps or intermolecular spaces. Due to the large intermolecular forces, the intermolecular attractions are very less and thus liquids and gases can flow.

Note:
The states of matter were distinguished based on qualitative differences in their bulk properties. Solid is the state in which matter maintains a fixed volume and shape; liquid is the state in which matter adapts to the shape of its container but varies only slightly in volume; and gas is the state in which matter expands to occupy the volume and shape of its container.