Page 236 - DK Children's Encyclopedia
P. 236

Solids                                                                            SEE ALSO

                                                                                               ▸ ▸ Changing states
                                                                                                p.57

           Solids are materials that keep their shape. They don’t                              ▸ ▸ Gases  p.117
           flow like water—they stay where you put them. Solids                                ▸ ▸ Liquids  p.148
           are useful for making many things, from mobile phones                               ▸ ▸ Materials  p.157

           to houses. They are usually hard materials, but soft                                ▸ ▸ Metals  p.162
           materials that keep their shape are solid, too.                                     ▸ ▸ Plastic  p.195




       What solids do                    Particles                                          Cutting solids
       Solids can be hard, bendy,        Solids are made from tiny                          We can cut solids into
                                         particles that are close
       strong, squishy, see-through, or   together. If enough heat                          different shapes. Wood is
       magnetic. The behaviors of a      is added, they start to                            a solid material that comes
       solid are called its properties.  move past each other                               from trees. We cut and
                                         to become liquid.
                                                                                            shape it to make furniture.



          Solids make a
          pile, not a pool
          or puddle.










                                                                                                             Chopped
                                                                                                              wood





         Solid rocks become
          liquid lava when                                                                  Shaping solids
            heated to very                                                                  Metal is a hard solid we can
          high temperatures.                                                                find underground. We heat
                                                                                            metal to make it soft, then
                                                                            Solids keep     bend and hammer it into the
                                                                            their shape.    shape we want. When it
                                                                                            cools, metal keeps its shape.


          Making
          new solids
          We can make new solid materials              Gets chilled
          by mixing other materials together.
          For example, gelatin is made by
          adding hot water to gelatin powder
          to make a liquid. The liquid then
          cools into a solid.          Liquid gelatin               Solid gelatin

                                                                                                A hot metal horseshoe
                                                            234





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