MATTERS IS ANYTHING THAT OCCUPIES SPACE. It includes everything from natural substances, such as minerals or living organisms, to synthetic materials. Matter can exist in three distinct states - solid, liquid, and gas. A solid is rigid and retains its shape. A liquid is a fluid, has a definite volume, and will take the shape of its container. A gas (also fluid) fills a space, so its volume will be the same as the volume of its container. Most substances can exist as a solid, a liquid, or a gas: the state is determined by temparature. At very high temparatures, matter become plasma, often considered to be a fourth state of matter. All matter is composed of microscopic particles, such as atomes and molecules. The arragement and interactions of these particles give a substance its physical and chemical properties, by which matter can be identified. There is a huge4 variety of matter because particles can arrange themselves in countless ways, in one substance or by mixing with others. Natural glass, for Example, seems to be a solid but is, in fact a supercool liquid:the atoms are not locked into a pattern and can flow. Pure substances known as elements combine to from compounds or mixtures. Mixtures called colloids are made made up of larger particles of matter suspended in a solid, liquid, or gas, while a solution is one substance dissolved in another.
Monday, June 15, 2009
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