Unit A: The Mix and Flow of Matter

Section 1: The Many Uses of Fluids

A fluid is anything that has no fixed shape

and can flow. Fluids can be a liquid or a gas

Fluids make it easier to use materials

One of the reasons that fluids are so useful is that they make it easier to transport, process and
use different kinds of materials, even if these materials are solids
Slurries
Slurries: A mixture of water and solids; usually used to transport solids more easily
Slurry technology the transport of solids in water is important in many applications. You
even use a slurry to wash dirt off your driveway
(mixture of dirt and water)

Fluids Become Solids

Fluids take the shape of their containers. Many solid materials are originally prepared as fluids.
Fluids can also be used to make other solids through superheating, so that they can be shaped
before they form solids. Two examples of this are:
1. Glass production
2. Steel production

Fluids can hold other materials

The ability of fluids flow and to carry other materials makes them useful in many applications.
Toothpaste is a great example. It has many different ingredients within, and acts as a binder
that keeps all the ingredients together for easy use and transport

Section 1 Check and Reflect Questions

1. What is a fluid?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Explain what a SLURRY is and how it is used.

__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. Explain why it is important for a product like steel to go through a fluid

phase as it is being produced.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________