CONCEPTS OF MATTER

Matter has many definitions, but the most

common is that it is any substance which
has mass and occupies space. All physical
objects are composed of matter, in the
form of atoms, which are in turn composed
of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Photons have no mass, so they are an
example of something in physics is not
comprised of matter. They are also not
considered "objects" in the traditional
sense, as they cannot exist in a stationary
state.
Before the 20th century, the term matter
included ordinary matter composed of
atoms and excluded other energy
phenomena such as light or sound. This
concept of matter may be generalized
from atoms to include any objects having
mass even when at rest, but this is illdefined because an object's mass can
arise
from
its
(possibly
massless)
constituents' motion and interaction
energies. Thus, matter does not have a
universal
definition,
nor
is
it
a
fundamental concept in physics today.
Matter is also used loosely as a general
term for the substance that makes up all
observable physical objects.

All the objects from everyday life that we

can bump into, touch or squeeze are
composed of atoms. This atomic matter is
in turn made up of interacting subatomic
particlesusually a nucleus of protons and
neutrons, and a cloud of orbiting
electrons. Typically, science considers
these composite particles matter because
they have both rest mass and volume. By
contrast, massless particles, such as
photons, are not considered matter,
because they have neither rest mass nor
volume. However, not all particles with
rest mass have a classical volume, since

fundamental particles such as quarks and

leptons (sometimes equated with matter)
are considered "point particles" with no
effective size or volume. Nevertheless,
quarks and leptons together make up
"ordinary matter", and their interactions
contribute to the effective volume of the
composite particles that make up ordinary
matter.
Matter commonly exists in four states (or
phases): solid, liquid and gas, and plasma.
However,
advances
in
experimental
techniques have revealed other previously
theoretical phases, such as BoseEinstein
condensates and fermionic condensates. A
focus on an elementary-particle view of
matter also leads to new phases of matter,
such as the quarkgluon plasma. For much
of the history of the natural sciences
people have contemplated the exact
nature of matter. The idea that matter was
built of discrete building blocks, the socalled particulate theory of matter, was
first put forward by the Greek philosophers
Leucippus (~490 BC) and Democritus
(~470380 BC).
Matter should not be confused with mass,
as the two are not quite the same in
modern physics. For example, mass is a
conserved quantity, which means that its
value is unchanging through time, within
closed systems. However, matter is not
conserved in such systems, although this
is not obvious in ordinary conditions on
Earth, where matter is approximately
conserved. Still, special relativity shows
that matter may disappear by conversion
into energy, even inside closed systems,
and it can also be created from energy,
within such systems. However, because
mass (like energy) can neither be created
nor destroyed, the quantity of mass and
the quantity of energy remain the same
during a transformation of matter (which
represents a certain amount of energy)
into non-material (i.e., non-matter) energy.

This is also true in the reverse

transformation of energy into matter.
Different fields of science use the term
matter in different, and sometimes
incompatible, ways. Some of these ways
are based on loose historical meanings,
from a time when there was no reason to
distinguish mass and matter. As such,
there is no single universally agreed
scientific meaning of the word "matter."
Scientifically, the term "mass" is welldefined, but "matter" is not. Sometimes in
the field of physics "matter" is simply
equated with particles that exhibit rest
mass (i.e., that cannot travel at the speed
of light), such as quarks and leptons.
However, in both physics and chemistry,
matter exhibits both wave-like and
particle-like properties, the so-called
waveparticle duality.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF MATTER
The Four Aristotelian Elements
Western chemistry grew up around old
alchemical ideas of Earth, Air, Fire, and
Water the so called Aristotelian
elements a concept that originated with
the ancient Greeks and others.

types of material. On a first analysis, the

possible phases are:

gaseous, such as air

liquid, such as water

solid, such as rock

However, for classification purposes it is

useful to divide materials into:

mixtures: variable composition

pure substances:
composition

stoichiometric

Physical techniques, such as: distillation,

filtration,
crush-&-sort,
selective
dissolution, chromatography, etc., can be
used
to
separate
the
individual
components of a mixture into chemically
pure substances, and physical methods
such as turbulent mixing can be used to
blend pure substances together into
mixtures.

Matter, the stuff from which our physical

world is formed, presents to us as various
types of material. On a first analysis, the
possible phases are:

gaseous, such as air

liquid, such as water

solid, such as rock

However, for classification purposes it is

useful to divide materials into:

Matter, the stuff from which our physical

world is formed, presents to us as various

mixtures: variable composition

pure substances:
composition

stoichiometric

Physical techniques, such as: distillation,

filtration,
crush-&-sort,
selective
dissolution, chromatography, etc., can be
used
to
separate
the
individual
components of a mixture into chemically
pure substances, and physical methods
such as turbulent mixing can be used to
blend pure substances together into
mixtures.

The Chemical Classification of Matter:

Updated
However, the above graphic is a little over
simple for our purposes, and can be
usefully expanded to a classification
system is both derived from and is
compatible with the classification system
employed
in The
Chemical
Thesaurus reaction chemistry database:

conductivity: electricity to flow

through the substance

malleability: if a substance can be

flattened

luster: how shiny the

substance looks

Properties and Changes of Matter

The different types of matter can be
distinguished through two
components: composition and properties.
The composition of matter refers to the
different components of matter along with
their relative proportions. The properties
of matter refer to the qualities/attributes
that distinguish one sample of matter from
another. These properties are generally
grouped into two categories: physical or
chemical.

Extensive Properties: A physical property

that will change if the amount of matter
changes.

mass: how much matter in the

sample

volume: How much space the

sample takes up

length: How long the sample is

Physical Change: Change in which the

matter's physical appearance is altered,
but composition remains unchanged.
(Change in state of matter)

Figure 1: Visual With Examples

Three main states of matter are:

Solid, Liquid, Gas
o

Solid is distinguished by a
fixed structure. Its shape
and volume do not change.
In a solid, atoms are tightly
packed together in a fixed
arrangement.

Liquid is distinguished by its

malleable shape (is able to
form into the shape of its
container), but constant
volume. In a liquid, atoms
are close together but not in
a fixed arrangement.

Gas is made up of atoms

that are separate. However,
unlike solid & liquid, a gas

Physical (Properties and Changes)

Physical Property: A physical property is
one that is displayed without any change
in composition. (Intensive or Extensive)
Intensive properties: A physical property
that will be the same regardless of the
amount of matter.

density: m/v

color: The pigment or shade

has no fixed shape and

volume.

Example 2: Chemical Change

Magnesium + Oxygen Magnesium Oxide

Example 1: Physical Change

2Mg+O22MgO

Iron + Oxygen Iron Oxide/ Rust

When liquid water (H2O) freezes into a solid
state (ice), it appears changed; However, this
4Fe+3O22Fe2O3
change is only physical as the the composition
of the constituent molecules is the same:
11.19% hydrogen and 88.81% oxygen by mass.

Using the components of composition and properties, we

sample of matter from the others.

Figure 2: Ice Melting is a physical change

Chemical (Properties and Changes)

Chemical Property: Any

characteristic that gives a sample
of matter the ability/inability to
undergo a change that alters its
composition. Examples: Alkali
metals react with water; Paper's
ability to burn.

Chemical Change: Change in which

one or more kinds of matter
are transformed to new kinds of
matter with altered compositions
(or Chemical Reaction).

KINDS/ FORMS OF ENERGY

Energy has a number of different forms, all
of which measure the ability of an object
or system to do work on another object or
system.
In other words, there are different ways
that an object or a system can possess
energy.
Here are the different basic forms:
Kinetic Energy:
Consider a baseball flying through the air.
The ball is said to have "kinetic energy" by
virtue of the fact that its in motion relative
to the ground. You can see that it is has
energy because it can do "work" on an
object on the ground if it collides with it
(either by pushing on it and/or damaging it
during the collision).
The formula for Kinetic energy, and for
some of the other forms of energy
described in this section will, is given in a
later section of this primer.
Potential Energy:
Consider a book sitting on a table. The
book is said to have "potential energy"
because if it is nudged off, gravity will
accelerate the book, giving the book
kinetic energy. Because the Earth's gravity
is necessary to create this kinetic energy,
and because this gravity depends on the
Earth being present, we say that the
"Earth-book system" is what really
possesses this potential energy, and that
this energy is converted into kinetic
energy as the book falls.
Thermal, or heat energy:
Consider a hot cup of coffee. The coffee is
said to possess "thermal energy", or "heat

energy" which is really the collective,

microscopic, kinetic and potential energy
of the molecules in the coffee (the
molecules have kinetic energy because
they are moving and vibrating, and they
have potential energy due their mutual
attraction for one another - much the
same way that the book and the Earth
have potential energy because they
attract each other). Temperature is really a
measure of how much thermal energy
something
has.
The
higher
the
temperature, the faster the molecules are
moving around and/or vibrating, i.e. the
more kinetic and potential energy the
molecules have.
Chemical Energy:
Consider the ability of your body to do
work. The glucose (blood sugar) in your
body is said to have "chemical energy"
because the glucose releases energy
when chemically reacted (combusted)
with oxygen. Your muscles use this energy
to generate mechanical force and also
heat. Chemical energy is really a form of
microscopic potential energy, which exists
because of the electric and magnetic
forces of attraction exerted between the
different parts of each molecule - the
same attractive forces involved in thermal
vibrations. These parts get rearranged in
chemical reactions, releasing or adding to
this potential energy.

Electrical Energy
All matter is made up of atoms, and atoms
are made up of smaller particles, called
protons (which have positive charge),
neutrons (which have neutral charge), and
electrons (which are negatively charged).
Electrons orbit around the center, or
nucleus, of atoms, just like the moon

orbits the earth. The nucleus is made up

of neutrons and protons.
Some material, particularly metals, have
certain electrons that are only loosely
attached to their atoms. They can easily
be made to move from one atom to
another if an electric field is applied to
them. When those electrons move among
the atoms of matter, a current of
electricity is created.
This is what happens in a piece of wire
when an electric field, or voltage, is
applied. The electrons pass from atom to
atom, pushed by the electric field and by
each other (they repel each other because
like charges repel), thus creating the
electrical current. The measure of how
well something conducts electricity is
called its conductivity, and the reciprocal
of conductivity is called the resistance.
Copper is used for many wires because it
has a lower resistance than many other
metals and is easy to use and obtain. Most
of the wires in your house are made of
copper. Some older homes still use
aluminum wiring.
The energy is really transferred by the
chain of repulsive interactions between
the electrons down the wire - not by the
transfer of electrons per se. This is just like
the way that water molecules can push on
each other and transmit pressure (or
force) through a pipe carrying water. At
points where a strong resistance is
encountered, its harder for the electrons
to flow - this creates a "back pressure" in a
sense back to the source. This back
pressure is what really transmits the
energy from whatever is pushing the
electrons through the wire. Of course, this
applied "pressure" is the "voltage".
As the electrons move through a "resistor"
in the circuit, they interact with the atoms
in the resistor very strongly, causing the

resistor to heat up - hence delivering

energy in the form of heat. Or, if the
electrons are moving instead through the
wound coils of a motor, they instead
create a magnetic field, which interacts
with other magnets in the motor, and
hence turns the motor. In this case the
"back pressure" on the electrons, which is
necessary for there to be a transfer of
energy from the applied voltage to the
motor's shaft, is created by the magnetic
fields of the other magnets (back) acting
on the electrons - a perfect push-pull
arrangement!
Electrochemical Energy:
Consider the energy stored in a battery.
Like the example above involving blood
sugar, the battery also stores energy in a
chemical way. But electricity is also
involved, so we say that the battery stores
energy "electro-chemically".
Another
electron chemical device is a "fuel-cell".
Electromagnetic Energy (light):
Consider the energy transmitted to the
Earth from the Sun by light (or by any
source of light). Light, which is also called
"electro-magnetic radiation". Why the
fancy term? Because light really can be
thought of as oscillating, coupled electric
and magnetic fields that travel freely
through space (without there having to be
charged particles of some kind around).
It turns out that light may also be thought
of as little packets of energy called
photons (that is, as particles, instead of
waves). The word "photon" derives from
the word "photo", which means "light".
Photons are created when electrons jump
to lower energy levels in atoms, and
absorbed when electrons jump to higher
levels. Photons are also created when a
charged particle, such as an electron or

proton, is accelerated, as for example

happens in a radio transmitter antenna.
But because light can also be described as
waves, in addition to being a packet of
energy, each photon also has a specific
frequency and wavelength associated with
it, which depends on how much energy
the photon has (because of this weird
duality - waves and particles at the same
time - people sometimes call particles like
photons "wavicles"). The lower the energy,
the longer the wavelength and lower the
frequency, and vice versa. The reason that
sunlight can hurt your skin or your eyes is
because it contains "ultraviolet light",
which consists of high energy photons.
These photons have short wavelength and
high frequency, and pack enough energy
in each photon to cause physical damage
to your skin if they get past the outer
layer of skin or the lens in your eye. Radio
waves, and the radiant heat you feel at a
distance from a campfire, for example, are
also forms of electro-magnetic radiation,
or light, except that they consist of low
energy photons (long wavelength and high
frequencies - in the infrared band and
lower) that your eyes can't perceive. This
was a great discovery of the nineteenth
century - that radio waves, x-rays, and
gamma-rays, are just forms of light, and
that light is electro-magnetic waves

Nuclear Energy:
The Sun, nuclear reactors, and the interior
of the Earth, all have "nuclear reactions"
as the source of their energy, that is,
reactions that involve changes in the
structure of the nuclei of atoms. In the
Sun, hydrogen nuclei fuse (combine)
together to make helium nuclei, in a
process called fusion, which releases
energy. In a nuclear reactor, or in the
interior of the Earth, Uranium nuclei (and
certain other heavy elements in the
Earth's interior) split apart, in a process
called fission. If this didn't happen, the
Earth's interior would have long gone cold!
The energy released by fission and fusion
is not just a product of the potential
energy released by rearranging the nuclei.
In fact, in both cases, fusion or fission,
some of the matter making up the nuclei
is actually converted into energy. How can
this be? The answer is that matter itself is
a form of energy! This concept involves
one of the most famous formula's in
physics, the formula,

E=mc2.
This formula was discovered by Einstein as
part of his "Theory of Special Relativity". In
simple words, this formula means:

Sound Energy:
Sound waves are compression waves
associated with the potential and kinetic
energy of air molecules. When an object
moves quickly, for example the head of
drum, it compresses the air nearby, giving
that air potential energy. That air then
expands,
transforming
the
potential
energy into kinetic energy (moving air).
The moving air then pushes on and
compresses other air, and so on down the
chain. A nice way to think of sound waves
is as "shimmering air".

The energy intrinsically stored in a piece

of matter at rest equals its mass times the
speed of light squared.
When we plug numbers in this equation,
we find that there is actually an incredibly
huge amount of energy stored in even
little pieces of matter (the speed of light
squared is a very very large number!). For
example, it would cost more than a million
dollars to buy the energy stored
intrinsically stored in a single penny at our
current (relatively cheap!) electricity rates.

To get some feeling for how much energy

is really there, consider that nuclear
weapons only release a small fraction of
the "intrinsic" energy of their components.

When a mixture of chalk and water is

poured through a filter paper in a funnel,
chalk particles remains as residue in the
filter paper, while the water gets collected
in the beaker below as filtrate. (see Fig. 1)
Evaporation

Separation of Mixtures
In a mixture, since the constituent
substances do not lose their identity, they
can be separated easily by physical
methods, taking advantage of the
differences in their physical properties.

Evaporation is used for recovering

dissolved solid substances from solutions
by evaporating the solvent. The solute
dissolves out and is left behind.
Salt/sugar can be recovered from a
salt/sugar -water mixture by evaporation.
The water evaporates to leave the solute
behind. Copper
sulphate, potash
alum, potassium nitrateetc. can also be
recovered from their aqueous solutions by
evaporation.

Fig 1: Filtration
Mixture of Solids and Liquids
Sedimentation and Decantation

Fig 2: Distillation

Sedimentation is the process of

separating an insoluble solid from a liquid
in which it is suspended by allowing it to
settle to the bottom of the container. If
this also involves pouring off of the liquid
leaving the solid behind, it is
called decantation.

Crystallisation

Filtration

Distillation

Filtration is used for separating insoluble

solids from a liquid.

Distillation is the process of heating a

solution containing soluble solids to form

Crystallisation is a sophisticated form of

evaporation technique in which crystals of
the solute are encouraged to develop
during the process of dissolving out from
the solution as the solvent evaporates.

vapours of the liquid and then cooling the

vapours to get the liquid back.
A mixture of common salt and water is
taken in a distillation flask and heated.
Steam rises up and comes out into
the condenser, which is a coaxial tube
with a central tube for vapour to pass
through, and and outer tube through
which cold water circulates to form a cold
water jacket. Steam condenses in the
central
tube
and
collects
in
a receiver as distillate. (see Fig. 2)

Extraction
In some cases, one substance in the
mixture is soluble in a particular liquid
solvent whereas the other(s) is(are)
insoluble in it. The process of dissolving
out the soluble component from a mixture,
and subsequently treating the solution to
get the solid, is called extraction.
Magnetic Separation
This method of separation is exemplified
by the separation of iron filings.
A mixture with iron filings as one of the
components can be separated using a
magnet to attract the iron particles away
from the mixture.

Fig 3: Sublimation of ammonium

chloride.(Source: NCERT, Science IX, p.
8)
Mixture of Solids
Sublimation
Sublimation is a process in which some
solids, on heating, are transformed
directly to vapour without passing through
the liquid phase, and vice versa. This
technique can be used to separate a
mixture of solids, one of which can
undergo sublimation. The vapours are
then cooled separately to get the
sublimed solid back. (Fig. 3)
Sublimation is used in the separation of
substances likeammonium
chloride, iodine, napthalene, camphor and
sulphur.

Fig 4: Chromatography
Chromatography
Chromatography is an advanced
technique of separation in which individual
components of a mixture are separated
from each other using the property
of differential migration (different rates of
flow). Here, a mobile phase, carrying the
mixture, is passed through a
selectivelyadsorbent stationary phase,
which can retain the components of the
mixture to different degrees. (Fig. 4)

Mixture of Liquids
Fractional Distillation

Fractional distillation is very effective is

separating mixtures of volatile
components, and is widely used in
laboratories and industries.
Crude petroleum is separated by the
process of fractional distillation into
different fractions like gasoline, lubricating
oil, kerosene, diesel etc.

Fig 5: Fractional Distillation

Fractional distillation is the process of
separating two or more miscible liquids by
a modified distillation process, in which
the distillates are collected
as fractions having different boiling points.
The separation of the liquids by this
method is based on the difference in their
boiling points. (Fig. 5)
Fractional distillation makes use of
a fractionating column or distillation
column, a tube which provides different
temperature zones inside it during
distillation, the temperature decreasing
from bottom to top. It provides surfaces on
which condensations (of
less volatile liquids) and vaporizations (of
more volatile liquids) can occur before the
vapours enter the condenser in order to
concentrate the more volatile liquid in the
first fractions and the less volatile
components in the later fractions.

Fig
6:
Separation. (Source:
Science IX, p. 20)

Gravity
NCERT,

Gravity Separation
In gravity separation, a mixture of two
immiscible liquids can be separated using
a separating funnel, the working of which
is based on the differences in the densities
of the liquids. The heavier liquid which
settles below is drained out first from
below the funnel into a beaker, and then
the lighter liquid is drained out into
another beaker.

CHEMICAL LAWS OF MATTER

Avogadro's Law
Equal volumes of gases under identical
temperature and pressure conditions will
contain equal numbers of particles (atoms,
ion, molecules, electrons, etc.).

Boyle's Law
At constant temperature, the volume of a
confined gas is inversely proportional to
the pressure to which it is subjected.
PV = k

Charles' Law
At constant pressure, the volume of a
confined gas is directly proportional to the
absolute temperature.
V = kT

Conservation of Energy
Energy can be neither created nor
destroyed; the energy of the universe is
constant. This is the First Law of
Thermodynamics.

Conservation of Mass
Also known as Conservation of Matter.
Matter can be neither created nor
destroyed, though it can be rearranged.
Mass remains constant in an ordinary
chemical change.

Dalton's Law

The ratio between the combining volumes

of gases and the product (if gaseous) can
be expressed in small whole numbers.

The pressure of a mixture of gases is

equal to the sum of the partial pressures
of the component gases.

Graham's Law
The rate of diffusion or effusion of a gas is
inversely proportional to the square root of
its molecular mass.

Definite Composition
A compound is composed of two or more
elements chemically combined in a
defined ratio by weight.

Henry's Law
The solubility of a gas (unless it is highly
soluble) is directly proportional to the
pressure applied to the gas.

Dulong & Petit's Law

Most metals require 6.2 cal of heat in
order to raise the temperature of 1 gramatomic mass of the metal by 1C.

Ideal Gas Law

The state of an ideal gas is determined by
its pressure, volume, and temperature
according to the equation:

Faraday's Law
The weight of any element liberated
during electrolysis is proportional to the
quantity of electricity passing through the
cell and also to the equivalent weight of
the element.

PV = nRT
where
P is the absolute pressure
V is the volume of the vessel

First Law of Thermodynamics

n is the number of moles of gas

Conservation of Energy. The total energy

of the universe is constant and is neither
created nor destroyed.

R is the ideal gas constant

Gay-Lussac's Law

Multiple Proportions

T is the absolute temperature

When elements combine, they do so in the

ratio of small whole numbers. The mass of
one element combines with a fixed mass
of another element according to this ratio.

Periodic Law

Second Law of Thermodynamics

cannot flow, on its own, from an area of

cold to an area of hot.

Entropy increases over time. Another way

of stating this law is to say that heat

The chemical properties of the elements

vary periodically according to their atomic
numbers.