Question

How many types of solids are there?

Answer 1

A Solid is a state of matter with a fixed shape and volume.

• It is rigid in nature.
• Particles are closely packed so they can vibrate, but they can't flow.
• They have high density and low compressibility.

Solids are divided into two classes:

1. Amorphous Solid: It is one kind of non-equilibrium material; its characteristic of atomic arrangement is more like liquid and has no long-range periodicity.
2. Crystalline Solids: Crystalline solids are those in which the atoms, ions, or molecules that make up the solid exist in a regular, well-defined arrangement. There are four types of crystalline solids-

1. Ionic solids: It is made up of positive and negative ions and is held together by electrostatic attraction.
2. Molecular solids: Are made up of atoms or molecules held together by London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole forces, or hydrogen bonds.
3. Covalent-network ( also called atomic solid) solids: It is made up of atoms connected by a covalent bond.
4. Metallic solids: It is made up of metal atoms that are held together by metallic bonds.

Difference between Amorphous Solid and Crystalline Solid.

Amorphous Solid	Crystalline Solid
1. Irregular pattern of ions, molecules or atoms in a solid.	1. Regular and repeating arrangement of components in a solid.
2. Melt over a range of a temperature	2. Have a sharp melting point.
3.No definite heat fusion.	3. Definite heat fusion.
4. Pseudo solid	4. True solids
5. Example: glass,plastic etc	5. Diamond, metals etc