What is matter?
Matter is everything around us!
Matter (matu) is anything that has mass and takes up space (volume). Everything you can see, touch, smell, or taste is made of matter. Even things you can’t see, like air (hau), are matter
Examples: water (wai), rocks (toka), air (hu, and your own body (tinana).
States of matter
Solids:
Solids keep their shape and have a fixed volume.
Example: Ice
Four things of solids:
- Chair
- Laptop
- Table
- Pencil
Liquid:
Liquids flow and take the shape of their container.
Example: Water
Four things of liquid:
- Coca Cola
- Water
- Milk
- Oil
Gas:
Gases spread out to fill any space.
Example: Air
Four things of Gas:
- Hydrogen
- Smoke
- Laughing Gas
- Steam
What are atoms?
- All materials on earth, such as plastic, wood and rock, are made of atoms, with empty spaces between them.
- Atoms are the smallest substance.
- The smallest bunch of atoms is called a molecule.
- Scientists call bunches of molecules matter.
- There are 118 different types of atoms on Earth. These are listed on the periodic table of elements.
Characteristics of matter
- We cannot create new matter, and we cannot destroy matter, but atoms can be rearranged
- The amount of matter(atoms) in a substance is called its mass. Because matter is just lots of atoms and can be weighed.
- If atoms are packed very tightly together, they have more mass (a greater number of atoms in a given space) and therefore weigh more. They are said to be dense.