化学学英文系列之——物质三态

序幕：这一讲的习得词汇包括属性、物质、微粒、预测、本质、不可压缩的、物质三态——固态、液态和气态、碳原子、晶状体、晾衣服、液压刹车器、物质表面、切断、水蒸气、液体的混合等，猜猜看——这些单词该如何拼写？

什么是化学？ （What is Chemistry?）

化学探索的是世界万物的属性和它们的变化方式。化学使我们有能力推测，当周围的环境发生变化时，万物会如何变化或发生反应来形成新的物质——化学能解释这一切为何发生。化学家们不断地改变物质的形态使之成为新的有用的物质。【Chemistry is about understanding the properties of different substances and how these substances can change. Chemistry allows us to predict how substances may alter when the surrounding conditions change, or how they may react to form new substances, and to explain why this happens. Chemists are continually changing matter into new and more useful forms.】

物质的本质（The Nature of Matter）

Matter is the stuff around us and of what we are made. The building blocks of matter are very small particles. Particles may be thought as being hard and incompressible like snooker balls. 【物质是在我们身边以及构成我们本身的东西。物质由非常小的微粒构成。微粒可以想象成那些很坚硬并且不能被压缩的东西，如斯诺克桌球。】

案例分析（Example）：

约1百万万亿个碳原子堆在一起也只会看见一个句号大小的形状。（About 1 billion billion (1000, 000,000,000,000,000) carbon atoms would be visible as a full stop.）

物质的状态（States of Matter）

The three states of matter are 【物质的三态是】

Solid （固态）

Liquid（液态）

Gas （气态）

物质三态中各态的微粒的组合结构如下图所示：【The different arrangements of particles in each of the three states of matter are shown below.】

Solids (固体)

In the solid state, particles are attracted to each other so strongly that they are locked into a lattice structure. The visible part of a solid is a crystal – a solid with regular shape and with the faces at constant angles to each other. The particles within the crystal possess energy that allows them to vibrate and rotate, but they do not move from their location. 【在固态下，微粒间的相互吸引相当强烈以至于形成了一种紧密的晶格结构， 固体的可见部分是一个晶状体——具有规则形状而且面与面之间形成定角的固体。晶状体内的微粒拥有振动和旋转的能量，但它们不会移位。】

固体不可压缩，因为内部的微粒拥挤不堪——微粒与微粒之间根本就没有移动空间！【Solids are incompressible because the particles are close-packed – there is no space between particles.】微粒的合成就算在以下情况下也不会受到影响：【The arrangement of the particles is unchanged even when: 】

A solid deforms (change shape) – the particles slide over each other. 【固体变形时——微粒仅仅是相互滑过。】

A crystal is cut (cleaved) – the cleavage is between layers. 【晶状体被切割时——切口仅在层与层之间。】

Liquids (液体)

液体微粒比固体有更高的能量，因此其微粒间的吸引力要比固体的更容易破坏。【Liquid particles have higher energy than solid particles, so the attractive forces between liquid particles are more easily broken than those between solid particles. This means:】

Liquids particles are more mobile than solid particles – liquids are able to flow. 【液体微粒要比固体微粒更具活动力——液体可以流动。】

The particles at the surface of a liquid can break away from the liquid and escape – the liquid evaporates. 【液体表面的微粒能够挣脱该液体束缚并逃离——液体会蒸发。】

案例分析：（Example）

温暖和有风的条件对于晾衣服、干化泥水坑和消退洪水是有利的——液体内部的微粒会被液体上方的流动空气扫除。【Warm windy conditions are good for drying the washing, or getting rid of puddles or floods – the liquid particles are swept away by the air movement above the liquid.】

由于液体内部微粒的空间极小，因此液体是不可压缩的。【There is very little space between particles in a liquid, so liquid are incompressible.】

案例分析：（Example）

The hydraulic brakes on a car work by using oil to transfer the pressure applied by the driver on the brake pedal to the brake mechanism at the wheels. If the oil were compressible, all the pressure applied by the driver would be absorbed in compressing the oil – and the car would not stop! 【汽车上的液压刹车器通过用油把司机在刹车踏板上施加的压力转移到车轮的制动机制而起作用。如果这些油是可被压缩的，司机的施压就会因为油的可压缩性而被吸收——那么，车将不会停下来！】

Mixing of Liquids （液体的混合）

Some liquids: 【有些液体：】

Mix readily (e.g. ethanol and water) – the particles in each liquid are continually breaking away from each other and can attach themselves to particles of the other liquids. 【很容易被混合（例如，乙醇和水）——每种液体各自微粒间不时相互排斥，并能够与另一种液体的微粒相粘。】

Do not mix (e.g. water and oil) – the forces between the different liquid particles are not strong enough to hold them together and the particles “prefer” to bond with particles of their “own type”.【不混合，（例如，水和油）——来自不同液体的微粒之间的力量不足以把它们粘合起来，而且这些微粒更喜欢与自类型的伙伴相结合。】

Gases （气体）

如果一种气体不在密封的容器里，（如气球），那么，该气体的微粒会向四面八方运动并且布满可以弥漫的空间。【If a gas is not confined in a sealed container (e.g. a balloon), the gas particles will move in all directions and fill in all available space.】

Example 案例分析

A gas (vapor) – e.g. perfume – can be smelled at one end of a large room even if the source is at the other end of the room. 【一种气体（蒸气）- 例如香水——就算被放在一个大房间的尽头，也能在进门时被闻到。】

Gases are compressible because there is plenty of space between the gas particles. 【气体是可以被压缩的，因为气体微粒之间有很大的空间。】

Example 案例分析

气体微粒之间的距离是气体微粒直径的好几百倍。【The distance between gas particles is several hundred times greater than the diameter of the gas particles themselves.】

当气体被高度压缩时，微粒之间的距离变得足够靠近以至于可以相互吸引，这时候随着热能发生变化，该气体可以形成液态。 【When a gas is highly compressed, the particles become close enough to attract each other, and the liquid state can be formed, with the evolution of heat energy. 】

As matter is heated, the energy gained by the particles increases their kinetic energy and hence their velocity. (This happens with solids, liquids and gases but is most noticeable in a gas because the particles in a gas can move more freely.) More collisions of particles in the gas occur, and the impacts made by the particles on the container increase in number in a given time and thus the pressure of the gas increase. 【当某物质受热，其微粒所获得的能量使它们的动能增加，由此它们的运动速度增加。（该现象会出现在固体、液体和气体物质，但气体的表现最为显著，因为气体微粒能更自由地运动。）】

案例分析 Example

气球受热时，气球内部气体的微粒动能增加。微粒速度和能量的增加扩大了气体的产生压力，由于橡胶的可伸缩性，气球会膨胀起来。当到达一定的程度，橡胶不能再伸展，则导致气球破裂。【When a balloon is heated, the particles in the gas inside the balloon gain kinetic energy. The increase in speed and energy of the particles raises the pressure exerted by the gas, and due to the elastic nature of the rubber, the balloon expands. A point is reached where the rubber will not stretch any further and the balloon bursts.】

Gases mix very quickly because: 【气体能快速混合因为：】

Gas particles are moving fast – their average speed is approximately 500 m/s (an Olympic sprinter has a speed of 10m/s). The mass of particle affects the speed – heavier particles move more slowly. 【气球微粒移动迅速，它们的平均速度大约是每秒500米（而一个奥林匹克短跑运动员的速度约为每秒10米）。微粒的量会影响速度——越重的微粒移动得越慢。】

There is plenty of space between the gas particles (i.e. there is nothing in their way). 【气体微粒之间有大量间隙（即无阻拦物）。】