MATTER

Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Examples are a stone, sand, water, biro, air etc. All matter is made up of tiny particles called atom.

Table of Contents

PROPERTIES OF MATTER

Matter occupy space
Matter have mass
Matter is made up of particles
It exists in solids, liquids or gasses

CLASSIFICATION OF MATTER

Matter can be classified into two major types

Living Matter: This refers to things that have life in them e.g. goat, man, lion, plant etc.
Non-Living Matter: This refers to things that have no life in them e.g. stone, water, chair, book, etc.

STATES OF MATTER

Matter exists in three main states. These are:

Solid state
Liquid state
Gaseous state

Solid State

In the solid state the particles are held in fixed position. They are arranged in a regular manner and hence have a fixed or definite shape. The particles are held together by strong force of attraction. Examples are wood, stone, nail, book, chair etc.

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Liquid State

In the liquid State, the particles are not in fixed position like the solids. The particles can move about but still restricted by the wall of the container. The force of attraction between the particles is weak, hence, liquids flow. Liquid takes the shape of the container. Examples are water, petrol, groundnut oil etc.

Gaseous State

In the gaseous state, the particles are wide apart and move about easily at very high speed. This makes it easy to compress a large volume of gas into a small volume. Examples are air, oxygen, nitrogen, Carbon dioxide etc.

CHANGE OF STATE

This is the process by which matter changes from solid to liquid, liquid to gases or vice versa.

Evaporation

This is the process by which a substance in the liquid state changes to gas or vapour. This takes place at normal atmospheric conditions and at any temperature.

Condensation

This is the change of gas to liquid

Boiling

This is the rapid vaporization of a liquid which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point. It occurs at a given temperature. The temperature at which liquid boils is called boiling point. The boiling point of water is 100^oc.

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Melting

This is the process by which a substance changes from the solid state to the liquid state on application of heat. The particular temperature at which the solid meets is called melting point.