Matter in Our Surroundings

Matter in Our Surroundings

• Everything around us is made up of matter, including the air we breathe, food, stones, clouds, stars, plants, and animals.
• Matter occupies space and has mass, meaning it has both volume and mass.

Physical Nature of Matter

• There were two schools of thought about the nature of matter: one believed it was continuous like a block of wood, and the other thought it was made up of particles like sand.
• The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg), and the SI unit of volume is cubic metre (m^3).
• A common unit of measuring volume is litre (L), where 1L = 1 dm^3, 1L = 1000 mL, and 1 mL = 1 cm^3.

Particles of Matter

• To understand the nature of matter, let's perform an activity: dissolving potassium permanganate crystals in 100mL of water.

Dissolving Salt

• When we dissolve salt or sugar in water, it spreads throughout the water, indicating that matter is made up of particles.
• The particles of salt or sugar get into the spaces between particles of water.
• During the dissolving process, the level of water does not change, despite the salt or sugar seemingly disappearing.

Learn about the characteristics and physical nature of matter, including its composition, units of measurement, and the different theories about its structure.