More sets like {ice, water, steam}?
October 15, 2017 8:51 AM Subscribe
Depending on its state, H2O can be called ice, water, or steam. Are there any other substances that have two or more native English words for different states of matter? (Three seems like too much to ask -- water is the only substance I can think of that even occurs in three states in everyday life.)
Nitrogen and liquid nitrogen is fairly well known, even in non scientific lingo.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 9:08 AM on October 15, 2017
posted by jeff-o-matic at 9:08 AM on October 15, 2017
Wood/ash
[Actually anything that can be burned/ash]
Batter/cake
Dough/bread
posted by flourpot at 9:09 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
[Actually anything that can be burned/ash]
Batter/cake
Dough/bread
posted by flourpot at 9:09 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
Dry ice/CO2?
posted by btfreek at 9:30 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by btfreek at 9:30 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
Glass and sand/quartz are thermodynamincally distinct phases of silica.
posted by bonehead at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2017
posted by bonehead at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2017
Dirt/mud
Trash/treasure
Rain/snow
Drizzle/downpour
Thoughts/dreams
And of course animals in their baby form/adult form/food form (calf/veal, cow/beef...pig/pork)
(Fat and oil are different. One comes from animals the other from plants. Grease, as far as I've heard the term used, can be solid and can come from either animals or fossil fuels)
posted by bilabial at 9:51 AM on October 15, 2017
Trash/treasure
Rain/snow
Drizzle/downpour
Thoughts/dreams
And of course animals in their baby form/adult form/food form (calf/veal, cow/beef...pig/pork)
(Fat and oil are different. One comes from animals the other from plants. Grease, as far as I've heard the term used, can be solid and can come from either animals or fossil fuels)
posted by bilabial at 9:51 AM on October 15, 2017
Coal/diamond/graphite as again different thermodynamic phases of carbon is another classic example.
posted by bonehead at 9:55 AM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 9:55 AM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
thread / fabric
wool / felt
sand / rock
leaves / compost
corn / polenta (and plenty of other prepared foods)
posted by ipsative at 9:59 AM on October 15, 2017
wool / felt
sand / rock
leaves / compost
corn / polenta (and plenty of other prepared foods)
posted by ipsative at 9:59 AM on October 15, 2017
Speaking as a hydrocarbon chemist, fuel, petroleum, grease and fats all meen different things to me. Sometimes different things, different materials, in different contexts.
posted by bonehead at 10:00 AM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by bonehead at 10:00 AM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
bilabial: Fat and oil are different. One comes from animals the other from plants.
No - one is solid at room temperature, the other at liquid temperature. Cocoa butter is an example of a fat derived from a plant.
But yes, melting a fat doesn't make it an oil.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 10:04 AM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
No - one is solid at room temperature, the other at liquid temperature. Cocoa butter is an example of a fat derived from a plant.
But yes, melting a fat doesn't make it an oil.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 10:04 AM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'd say the spirit of this question is: (a) the substance can readily change back and forth from one state to another and (b) that each of those states has a completely different name.
With those restrictions, only btfreek's "dry ice/CO2" works. I can't think of anything else.
posted by mono blanco at 10:06 AM on October 15, 2017 [8 favorites]
With those restrictions, only btfreek's "dry ice/CO2" works. I can't think of anything else.
posted by mono blanco at 10:06 AM on October 15, 2017 [8 favorites]
I thought that metalworkers might have something, but so far I haven't found anything.
posted by clawsoon at 10:11 AM on October 15, 2017
posted by clawsoon at 10:11 AM on October 15, 2017
Bread/Toast
posted by humboldt32 at 10:13 AM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by humboldt32 at 10:13 AM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Juice or punch<>popsicle. Those can go back and forth between states, and are common words, but maybe it's cheating because t works based on water.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:30 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:30 AM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
Adding on to wood + ash: Tree?
posted by yeahlikethat at 10:43 AM on October 15, 2017
posted by yeahlikethat at 10:43 AM on October 15, 2017
Best answer: Lava and rock?
And magma. Magma is molten rock underground, once it's erupted from a volcano or volcanic vent it's called lava.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:06 AM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
And magma. Magma is molten rock underground, once it's erupted from a volcano or volcanic vent it's called lava.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:06 AM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
Cloud/rain/puddle?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Culinary pairs: pig/pork; sheep/lamb; brain/sweetbread; roe/caviar.
posted by Jesse the K at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2017
posted by Jesse the K at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2017
Energy/matter.
posted by mono blanco at 12:31 PM on October 15, 2017
posted by mono blanco at 12:31 PM on October 15, 2017
Chalk
Limestone
Marble
all forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3.
posted by glasseyes at 12:54 PM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Limestone
Marble
all forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3.
posted by glasseyes at 12:54 PM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
I agree with mono blanco’s take on the question—We’re just talking about a single substance that has distinct names whether it’s solid, liquid, or gas, right? I think maurreen’s lava/rock fits that take.
If we are speaking more generally, I would suggest meteoroid/meteor/meteorite, three names for a hunk of rock and metal depending on whether it’s floating through space, falling through an atmosphere, or having landed on a planet.
posted by ejs at 12:58 PM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
If we are speaking more generally, I would suggest meteoroid/meteor/meteorite, three names for a hunk of rock and metal depending on whether it’s floating through space, falling through an atmosphere, or having landed on a planet.
posted by ejs at 12:58 PM on October 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
Cream, whipped cream, butter
posted by flourpot at 1:29 PM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by flourpot at 1:29 PM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Depends what you count as a "substance", but many different arrangements of carbon have unique names. ( Diamond/graphite/etc )
Only one molecule, but like water/ice/steam, it's the different arrangements of them that give rise to different substances.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 3:28 PM on October 15, 2017
Only one molecule, but like water/ice/steam, it's the different arrangements of them that give rise to different substances.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 3:28 PM on October 15, 2017
If lava/rock works, then magma/lava/rock also works (magma is liquid rock under the earth, lava is what magma that is flowing on the surface of the earth exposed to air is called, rock is the hardened form).
posted by holyrood at 8:38 PM on October 15, 2017
posted by holyrood at 8:38 PM on October 15, 2017
Fog, rain, sleet, hail.
I can think of two ways a substance can change that are borderline to phase changes. One is changes in crystalline structure (or lack thereof) as previously mentioned for carbon. There are lots of examples, e.g. annealing of metals, and varieties of rocks. There are different names for sugar and salt depending on crystal size. The other is materials in solution. Salt crystals are quite different from salt in a solution. Ammonia is so commonly encountered in solution that the pure compound is referred to as anhydrous ammonia.
True phase changes are a different matter. We are familiar with the evaporation of organic liquids like gasoline and ethanol, but different names have not come to mind. Some organic gases come under the heading of liquefiable petroleum gas, e.g. liquefied natural gas. In commerce, most of those are mixes of different compounds, including what is sold as "propane".
posted by SemiSalt at 5:58 AM on October 16, 2017
I can think of two ways a substance can change that are borderline to phase changes. One is changes in crystalline structure (or lack thereof) as previously mentioned for carbon. There are lots of examples, e.g. annealing of metals, and varieties of rocks. There are different names for sugar and salt depending on crystal size. The other is materials in solution. Salt crystals are quite different from salt in a solution. Ammonia is so commonly encountered in solution that the pure compound is referred to as anhydrous ammonia.
True phase changes are a different matter. We are familiar with the evaporation of organic liquids like gasoline and ethanol, but different names have not come to mind. Some organic gases come under the heading of liquefiable petroleum gas, e.g. liquefied natural gas. In commerce, most of those are mixes of different compounds, including what is sold as "propane".
posted by SemiSalt at 5:58 AM on October 16, 2017
If you want sets specifically like {ice, water, steam}, you'll want to hang out at the triple point of various substances. Most of them are at ... pretty awkward temperatures and pressures, so, hardly "everyday life".
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:34 PM on October 16, 2017
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:34 PM on October 16, 2017
Sugar / caramel almost works, but apparently caramel is thermally decomposed sugar, not liquid sugar.
posted by lucidium at 5:22 AM on October 21, 2017
posted by lucidium at 5:22 AM on October 21, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by praemunire at 8:56 AM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]