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Asked by 285newg32 to Aoife, Brian, Conor, Louise, Matthew on 15 Nov 2016.
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Louise Mc Grath answered on 15 Nov 2016:
Hi 285newg32!
A sponge is in fact a solid, even though it is super squishy! The reason it is a solid is because it has a uniform structure (as in keeps its shape).
If it were any other state of matter then a sponge would have a different shape, for example if it were a gas then putting a sponge into a big room would mean that it would become quite big and expand to the size of the room, which is something we do not see thankfully! I don’t think death by sponge would be fun!
I hope this answers the question for you!
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Conor Cullen answered on 15 Nov 2016:
Louise’s answer is spot on, its a solid, there are a few materials that have interesting properties that can allow them to show some properties that we would associate with both liquids and solids. These are called non-Newtonian materials and are stuff like custard or cornstarch in water.
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Matthew Kitching answered on 15 Nov 2016:
Hi 285newg32
This is a great question!
We learn that there are 3 (maybe 4) states of matter: solid, liquid, gas (and plasma) – and this is true for simple materials.
But quite a lot of materials are composite (made up of multiple types of material). These are so called “non-newtonian materials”.
So you can have a solid which also has air in it (like a sponge) or a liquid with air in it (like a gel or a foam) and you can have liquids with solids in them (like ketchup). Sometimes mixing materials gives them unique properties – have you ever done the cornstarch experiment? when you hit cornstarch suspended in water its hard, but it flows like a liquid!
Cool eh?
Hope that answers your question – let me know if you want to know more 🙂
matt
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