Home PBS Space Time Season 2022 Episode 34

How Can Matter Be BOTH Liquid AND Gas?

PBS Space Time · Season 2022 · Episode 34
Supercritical Fluids are one the strangest states of matter and yet they are found everywhere from Decaf Coffee, to dry cleaning, to the atmosphere of Jupiter. When we think of an exotic state of matter we tend to think of the really weird things that matter can do in extreme circumstances - like how at very high temperatures we get the plasma that the sun is made of, or at extreme densities we get the nuclear matter of neutron stars. But there’s one state of matter - supercritical fluid - that’s not solid, liquid or gas, but is also not confined to extreme or rare environments. In fact, there are planets in our solar system completely covered with oceans of the stuff, and you’ve often been the beneficiary of its powers without even knowing it.

Episode Details

Air date, runtime, timezone, and episode position.

Season
2022
Episode
34
Air Date
14/Dec/2022
Air Time
12:00
Runtime
22 min

Overview

Episode summary.

Supercritical Fluids are one the strangest states of matter and yet they are found everywhere from Decaf Coffee, to dry cleaning, to the atmosphere of Jupiter. When we think of an exotic state of matter we tend to think of the really weird things that matter can do in extreme circumstances - like how at very high temperatures we get the plasma that the sun is made of, or at extreme densities we get the nuclear matter of neutron stars. But there’s one state of matter - supercritical fluid - that’s not solid, liquid or gas, but is also not confined to extreme or rare environments. In fact, there are planets in our solar system completely covered with oceans of the stuff, and you’ve often been the beneficiary of its powers without even knowing it.

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