system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is there discrete states of matter, as opposed to a continuous “spectrum” of matter?

Why does matter go through discrete phases of solid → liquid → gas, rather than a continuous change going through a “buttery” or “syrup”-esque phase?
gpt
At the atomic level, the temperature of a substance is a measure of how energetic it's particles are. The higher the temperature, the higher the average kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules that make up that substance. For most substances, these particles attract one another with a strength governed by the various attractive forces at play, such as electric forces, van der Waals (sp?) forces, and chemical bonds. At low temperatures (and high pressures) the particles don't have enough energy to break these bonds, and the substance is solid. At medium temperatures some but not all of these attractive forces can be overcome, and at high temperatures the particles become completely separated and exist as a gas. 

So why are there no in-between states? Because these bonds are binary; either they exist or they don't. Either the temperature is high enough to break the bonds, or it isn't. There is a very clear threshold above which the bonds are broken, and below which they remain intact. This translates into a clear division between states of matter. 

Interestingly, because temperature is an average measurement, it's possible (and indeed quite likely) for individual particles to have a much higher or lower kinetic energy than that average and break or form bonds independently of the rest of the substance. This is how water can evaporate without boiling, for instance. It's also possible for particles in a solid substance to gain enough energy to sublimate directly into a gas.