During a recent, gaseous, conversation with a partner, I defined a vacuum to be "the elimination of space between particles." I drew the following picture.
o o o
o o o
o o ==> o o
o o o
o o o
I claimed that the group of particles to the right were experiencing a vacuum. Not a total vacuum, it seems apparent now. Is it an oxymoron to describe such a thing as a partial vacuum, or would this simply be a case of negative pressure? In the group of particles to the right, it seems more likely to describe the change as an increase in pressure/reduction in voume. In such case, the space between particles hasn't quite so much been eliminated as it has been filled by particles found now more closely together. Perhaps I should have considered the surrounding volume.
What states do the following diagrams indicate?
------------------
| |
| | ---------
| o o o | | o o o |
| o o | | o o |
| o o o | | o o o |
| | ---------
| |
-----------------
Anyway, my partner responded by drawing the following.
o o o o o
o o ==> o
o o o o o
Claiming that the group of particles to the right were experiencing a vacuum, to which I responded was merely "a reduction of matter." He assumed the surrounding volume in each case remains the same.
Would any of you be so considerate to inform me as to how wrongly stated these claims of mine were?
EDIT: Those diagrams have been screwed up
