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Asked by hannahrm to Aled, Ellie, Fiona, Kev, Willem on 12 Mar 2014.
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Willem Heijltjes answered on 12 Mar 2014:
Most living things, like trees and people, are a complex mix of all kinds of materials. Some are solids, some are liquids, some are gases – and all put together on the smallest scale, that of cells. So while a tree is “solid” – you can bump into it – this is not the same kind of “solid” as, say, ice.
Trees consist for a large part of water – a liquid. What makes trees “solid” is, mostly, *cellulose* – a very sturdy kind of sugar. Cellulose doesn’t melt: if you heat it, the molecules fall apart before they reach the right temperature for melting!
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Aled Roberts answered on 12 Mar 2014:
Hi hannahrm!
Willem is spot on!
One thing to remember is not every solid is frozen but some compounds can be frozen to form a solid! This happens when the temperature of a liquid is lowered below its freezing temperature resulting in a solid… Freezing can also be known as solidification! The best example of this is liquid water to solid water (ice).
🙂
Comments
mc13041 commented on :
if you burn wood it doesnt melt it burns.
hannahrm commented on :
I realize that. I have seen a fire before