Vökvi

Vökvi is the Icelandic word for liquid, referring to both the liquid state of matter and any liquid substance. In everyday language it covers beverages, fuels, oils, and other fluids, such as water or milk. In scientific contexts, vökvi denotes a state in which matter has a definite volume but takes the shape of its container, and particles flow past one another more readily than in a solid.

Liquids are characterized by properties such as viscosity, surface tension, density, and how they respond to temperature and pressure. They are mostly incompressible and can form droplets, streams, and films. They can mix with other liquids to form solutions (miscible) or separate into layers (immiscible). The boiling point determines when a liquid turns to gas at a given pressure, and changes in temperature influence density and viscosity.

Common liquids include water, milk, juice, oil, and alcohol. Liquids play central roles in biology, chemistry, industry, and daily life, serving as solvents, reactants, fuels, and hydrating fluids. The study of liquids falls under fluid mechanics and physical chemistry, with subtopics such as viscosity, surface tension, capillarity, and rheology. The term vökvi is used across scientific writing and everyday Icelandic to describe substances and phenomena associated with the liquid state.