State of matter
![The four fundamental states of matter. Clockwise from top left, they are solid, liquid, plasma, and gas, represented by an ice sculpture, a drop of water, electrical arcing from a tesla coil, and the air around clouds, respectively.](/Images/godic/202412/20/Four_Fundamental_States_of_Matter3831.png")
![A crystalline solid: atomic resolution image of strontium titanate. Brighter atoms are Sr and darker ones are Ti.](/Images/godic/202412/20/Stohrem3831.jpg")
![Structure of a classical monatomic liquid. Atoms have many nearest neighbors in contact, yet no long-range order is present.](/Images/godic/202412/20/Teilchenmodell_Flüssigkeit.svg3831.png")
![The spaces between gas molecules are very big. Gas molecules have very weak or no bonds at all. The molecules in](/Images/godic/202412/20/Gas_molecules3831.gif")
In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms that matter takes on. Four states of matter are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many other states are known to exist only in extreme situations, such as Bose–Einstein condensates, neutron-degenerate matter and quark-gluon plasma, which occur in situations of extreme cold, extreme density and extremely high-energy color-charged matter respectively. Some other states are believed to be possible but remain theoretical for now. For a complete list of all exotic states of matter, see the list of states of matter.