What happens when water changes state?

Water can turn from one state into another, like going from a solid to a liquid or gas, just by changing temperature.

Like ice melting in your hand

Imagine you have an ice cube. It’s cold and hard, that’s water as a solid. When you hold it, your warm hands make the ice melt. Now it becomes a liquid, like the water you drink. That's what happens when water goes from solid to liquid, we call it melting.

Water can also become steam

If you heat up that same water, maybe by boiling it in a kettle, it turns into a gas called steam. It’s not just invisible, it can even make your hair curl if it's hot enough! That change is called evaporation.

And when the steam cools down again, like on a cold day, it becomes clouds or even snow, going back from gas to solid in a process called freezing.

So water is like a shape-shifter, changing forms all around you, no magic needed! Water can turn from one state into another, like going from a solid to a liquid or gas, just by changing temperature.

Like ice melting in your hand

Imagine you have an ice cube. It’s cold and hard, that’s water as a solid. When you hold it, your warm hands make the ice melt. Now it becomes a liquid, like the water you drink. That's what happens when water goes from solid to liquid, we call it melting.

Water can also become steam

If you heat up that same water, maybe by boiling it in a kettle, it turns into a gas called steam. It’s not just invisible, it can even make your hair curl if it's hot enough! That change is called evaporation.

And when the steam cools down again, like on a cold day, it becomes clouds or even snow, going back from gas to solid in a process called freezing.

So water is like a shape-shifter, changing forms all around you, no magic needed!

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Examples

  1. A glass of ice melts into water on a hot day.
  2. Steam rises from a boiling pot of water.
  3. Snowflakes form in the sky when water vapor cools.

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