Question

As a metal such as lead melts, what happens to (a) the average kinetic energy of the atoms and (b) the average distance between the atoms?

Short answer

(a) The average kinetic energy increases; (b) The average distance increases.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding Melting

When a metal, such as lead, melts, it undergoes a phase change from a solid to a liquid state. During this process, the internal energy of the metal changes, affecting both the kinetic energy and the arrangement of its atoms.

Analyzing Kinetic Energy

In a solid state, atoms vibrate around a fixed position. As a metal melts, heat energy increases, leading to an increase in the vibrational kinetic energy of its atoms as they gain more freedom from their fixed positions.

Evaluating Atomic Distances

In the transition from solid to liquid, the structured, fixed positions of atoms become more random and less densely packed, allowing atoms to move more freely. This results in an increase in the average distance between atoms compared to the closely packed solid state.

Key concepts

Understanding the Melting Process

When a solid substance, such as a metal like lead, melts, it transitions from a solid state to a liquid state. This transformation is known as a phase change. During the melting process, the temperature remains constant as the solid absorbs heat energy, also referred to as latent heat. This heat is used to overcome the attractive forces between atoms within the solid, allowing them to move more freely and transition into a liquid.

It's important to note that every substance has a specific melting point, which is the temperature at which this phase change occurs. For example, lead has a melting point of 327.5°C. At the melting point, a balance occurs where the solid and liquid phases coexist, and the structure of the material changes dramatically, affecting both its physical properties and the behavior of its atoms.

Kinetic Energy in Phase Changes

Kinetic energy is essentially the energy of motion. In the context of solids and liquids, it refers to the movement and vibrations of atoms. In a solid, atoms vibrate in place because they are held tightly together. As melting begins and heat is applied, these vibrations increase.

This increase in kinetic energy allows atoms to break free from some of the rigid constraints of a solid. The rise in kinetic energy results in atoms being able to move past one another slightly, marking the transition to a liquid. During melting, the energy added doesn’t increase the temperature but instead boosts the motion of atoms, enabling them to wiggle free from their fixed positions. Hence, in the melting process, we observe that atoms begin to move more dynamically while still within the melting phase.

Atomic Structure Changes During Melting

At the atomic level, the structure of a material greatly influences its properties. In a solid state, atoms are arranged in a highly ordered pattern known as a lattice. Consider this like an intricate grid where each atom has a specific place and distance from its neighbors.

When a solid melts, this orderly arrangement is disrupted. The atoms move into a configuration that's more disordered. This increased level of disorder is called entropy. Thus, the average distance between atoms increases as they shift to a less structured, more fluid state.

• Atoms are no longer locked into a fixed position.
• They can move relative to each other, leading to the fluidity characteristic of liquids.
• The change in atomic structure is what gives liquids their unique properties compared to solids, like the ability to flow and take the shape of their container.

Therefore, understanding atomic structures is critical to grasping how and why materials undergo phase changes.