The state of matter of a particular substance is dependent on what factors?

The state of matter of a substance—whether it is a solid, liquid, or gas—depends primarily on temperature and pressure. Temperature affects the energy of the molecules within a substance; as temperature increases, the kinetic energy of these molecules rises, which can change a solid into a liquid (melting) or liquid into gas (vaporization) when a certain threshold is reached. Conversely, lowering the temperature can cause gases to condense into liquids or liquids to freeze into solids.

Pressure also plays a critical role, especially for gases. Increasing pressure on a gas can compress it into a liquid state, while reducing the pressure can allow it to expand into gas. The combination of these two factors creates the conditions under which a substance exists in a specific state.

Other factors listed, like size and shape, weight and length, or inertia and internal energy, do not directly determine the phase of matter but may influence some physical properties or behaviors of the material once it is in a specific state. However, they are not the primary determinants of whether a substance is a solid, liquid, or gas.