Energy and State of Matter Particles has the highest kinetic energy when they are in the gaseous state. Kinetic energy is related to heat (also called thermal energy). Raising the temperature results in an increase of its kinetic energy.

The atoms in a hot object move faster than atoms in a cold object. The atoms in a hot object have more kinetic energy than the atoms in a cold object. Adding heat to a substance will make the atoms vibrate more and when heat leaves the substance; the atoms will vibrate less.

solid

gas

Phases of matter

In a solid, particles are packed tightly together so they don’t move much. The electrons of each atom are constantly in motion, so the atoms have a small vibration, but they are fixed in their position. Because of this, particles in a solid have very low kinetic energy.

How do you know that the air you breathe is matter, even though you can’t see it? Possible answer: Matter has weight and takes up space. You know that air takes up space, because when you breathe in, your lungs fill with air and expand. It doesn’t have mass or take up space.

Air pressure

The atmosphere is a mixture of gases and it pushes on us with atmospheric pressure. However, we don’t feel the weight of atmosphere. This is because the pressure pushes in all directions. You might think that we don’t feel the pressure – but you would certainly notice if the atmosphere disappeared.

about 5 million billion tons

Sea level atmospheric pressure is 15 pounds per square inch, meaning every square inch of our planet’s surface has 15 pounds of air above it. One square inch is roughly one-third to one-half the size of an adult thumb. That corresponds 60,217,344,000 pounds of air for every square mile.

From lowest to highest, the major layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.