Gas taking up more states

[MadisonFuentes1G]

Why do molecules occupy more states in a gaseous compared to being in solid or liquid states?

[Grace Kim 1J]

Gases take up more states than liquids or solids due to the spacing of particles. Gases can occupy more possible positions because it occupies a larger volume compared to liquids and solids, resulting in a higher entropy. Because of the larger volume, gas molecules can freely move in a space and are more spread out, which means there is more room and positions in which they can be arranged.

The more positions that can be occupied, the greater the entropy. This is why gas takes up more states than liquid and solids.

Hope this helped!

[Ibrahim Malik 1H]

Solids are the most compact state, molecules are tightly packed together and this in turn creates rigid structures that do not change shape or volume. Liquids have weaker bonds, allowing for a change in shape but with a set volume. Gases have the weakest bonds out of the three, gases occupy the shape and volume of their container and hence occupy more states and have a higher entropy as the molecules are loosely moving around very quickly when compared to liquids and solids.