10 - The liquid state

Summary

The main characteristics of the gaseous state are random, translational motion of the molecules and relatively little molecular interaction. In the solid state the main characteristics are fixed sites for the individual atoms or molecules and very little translational movement. Both these states are well understood. By contrast the liquid state, in some ways, has ‘no right to exist’. The molecular interaction must be quite strong since a given quantity of liquid, like a solid (and unlike a gas) occupies a definite volume. On the other hand the molecules have so much freedom that a liquid, unlike a solid, flows very readily and easily takes up the shape of the vessel it occupies.

The gaseous state has been thoroughly investigated and most of its problems have been satisfactorily resolved. The solid state is still being studied in hundreds of physics laboratories all over the world. By contrast the liquid state is a neglected step-child of the physical scientists. This is partly because the liquid state raises a number of very difficult theoretical problems. It is also partly a matter of fashion dictated by the economic value and engineering uses of solids as structural materials, electrical devices, etc. But for chemists, physical chemists and especially biologists, the liquid state is possibly of greater importance than the solid state. We may well expect, we should certainly hope for, marked advances in our understanding of the liquid state in the next two or three decades.