In the sphere around us, the matter can be in very different states. Most of the people know only three basic states of matter - solid, liquid and gas. But recently, scientists have discovered that under certain conditions the matter can be in an exotic state, where it is solid and liquid at the same time. Scientists used extremely high pressure and temperature as extreme conditions, and a piece of metallic potassium appeared as a sample of matter that had passed into the “dual” state.

When the pressure reached a value from 2 to 4 Gigapascals, the potassium atoms formed a crystal lattice, the type of which was described just above. At the same time, chemical bonds between atoms are strong enough and the material continues to be a solid matter until the temperature rises to 800 Kelvin. But then the chemical bonds begin to "melt" and the material gradually passes into a chaotic liquid state, passing through the intermediate solid-liquid state.

Further calculations showed that other materials, such as sodium and bismuth, may exist in such a solid-liquid state. And in the nearest future, the scientists will try to determine the basic physical and chemical properties of a material that is in a new state, which can be very useful for implementing new technologies from the field of applied chemistry, physics, etc.