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Why can a gas be squeezed into a smaller space when a liquid cannot?
AIts particles are much lighter than liquid ones
BIts particles have large gaps between them
CIts particles lose energy as they are pushed
DIts particles are far smaller than liquid ones
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Its particles have large gaps between them
1. Whether a substance can be squeezed depends on the space between its particles.
2. Gas particles are spread far apart with large empty spaces between them.
3. Squeezing a gas simply pushes those particles closer together.
4. That is how a diver carries an hour of air inside one small tank.
5. In a liquid the particles are already close, so there is almost no room left.
6. A liquid is therefore very hard to compress.
7. The particles themselves never shrink or grow, so the option about size is wrong.
_Source: Siyavula Natural Sciences Grade 8 (CC BY 4.0), The gaseous state_