These Solids Can Flow Like Liquids

Playing with sand, you were sure to notice how it can flow like water, but we cannot consider it a liquid substance. Like most grains, it is regarded as a solid. What makes it so that it can flow like a liquid then? The reason being is that it is a granular material. A granular material is made up of solid macroscopic particles that interact with one another but lose energy while doing so.

The pieces that make up granular materials are large enough to the point that large changes in temperature do not affect them. There are a lot of examples of granular materials, like sand, snow, rice, coffee, and so on. We will talk about them in detail in the rest of this article. 

What Are Granular Materials?

There is a large number of solids that can flow like liquids; a lot of the things we stumble upon in our everyday lives are granular materials. Some of those examples are coal, rice, coffee, and fertilizers. Even corn flakes can be considered granular materials. When you pour them out of the box, they flow just like a liquid. Some other notable examples are, of course, snow and sand. Sand, in particular, is a no brainer. It can be considered to be a solid that is most similar to a liquid in its behavior. Another example from the world of food is nuts. Same as corn flakes, if we try pouring out a bag of nuts, they will behave like a liquid and exhibit a flow.