Wikijunior talk:Particles/Matter

Plasma
I think plasma is sometimes called "the 4th state of matter", but this is obviously less common on Earth than the three "traditional" states, and I guess is outside your HK form one curriculum. (see Plasma Recent Runes (talk) 12:35, 4 July 2010 (UTC)
 * To understand the behaviour of a plasma, you have to consider electromagnetic forces and effects, so that would probably put it outside of a study of pure particle theories, so I am not proposing that information on plasmas needs to be added to your book, just that you should not say that there only three states of matter. Recent Runes (talk) 13:47, 4 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Just for perspective (I don't mean to take any position on what should be covered here), plasma is covered at Wikijunior:The Elements/Plasma. --Pi zero (talk) 15:03, 4 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Won't it confuse kids to say, 'now, there are many states of matter, including solid, liquid and gas'? Kayau ( talk &#124; email &#124; contribs ) 06:58, 5 July 2010 (UTC)
 * As you say, it may be best not to mention things that you are not going to explain later, so long as you bear in mind that there can be other states while you are writing it. There could be a risk of giving a misleading impression, but I do not think this page actually needs to be changed. Recent Runes (talk) 22:17, 5 July 2010 (UTC)


 * There aren't many states of matter, there are (at this educational level, surely) just four. (They correspond oddly well to European alchemy's "four elements", earth water air and fire.)  I'm inclined to caution, though, not because I don't think plasma should be mentioned, but because, in order to gracefully mention it without getting into its dynamics, I don't think one wants to take a page-by-page approach.  One should look at the book as a whole, and decide how best to mention plasma without disrupting the ebb and flow of the whole.  Unfortunately, I have yet to scrape up time to study the whole of the book (which I would be understating to say I find frustrating).  I do have plasma in mind as something to turn my mind to when I finally get a chance to focus on this book properly.  --Pi zero (talk) 23:47, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Deposition and Sublimation
The transitions between water vapour and frost could be mentioned here I think, as described on the Wikipedia page State_of_matter. The diagram there is not what you want, but this one looks like it might be suitable, if you decide to extend the material. Recent Runes (talk) 22:17, 5 July 2010 (UTC)
 * The picture does look quite beautiful. Pity it isn't svg. Though it might be a bit too tough for kids no? Kayau ( talk &#124; email &#124; contribs ) 01:27, 6 July 2010 (UTC)