Question

Ice, water and steam are 3 states of the same substance. Justify.

Answer 1

Water exists in three states of matter - Ice (solid), Liquid(water) and Water vapor (gaseous state). The chemical formula of water is $H_{2}O$. The chemical nature of the compound does not change but only the phases of water vary in ice, water and water vapor.

In ice, all the water molecules are very closely packed and hydrogen bonding exists among the water molecules in ice. Therefore, ice, water and water vapor are three states of the same substance water.

In liquid water, the intermolecular spaces between the water molecules is in between that of ice and water vapor.

In water vapor, the molecules are far apart from each other.

When ice is heated, the molecules take the heat energy and convert to liquid state which upon further heating converts to vapor state.