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Physical Nature of Matter

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Last updated date: 23rd Apr 2024
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What is the Physical Nature of Matter?

There is matter everywhere surrounding us. The matter in our world is made up of everything from the foods and beverages people consume to perhaps our own bodies. Certain other matter examples are milk, pen, toothbrush, water, and pencil these all contain matter, along with buses, cycles, cars, etc. also contain matter. Matter includes both living creatures and non-living entities.

Nevertheless, some entities, such as temperature, noise, light, and electricity, cannot be classified as matter since they lack mass, even though they can nonetheless be beneficial in performing tasks. Heat can cook food, boil water, and iron textiles. There are many applications for electricity, including turning on fans and powering various machinery. Sound causes our eardrums to shake. Light is used by plants to produce their nourishment. For working or studying in the dark, light is also helpful. These are all different types of energy. Energy is the capacity to perform tasks.

This article discusses more matter and its physical nature of matter.

Define Matter

The term "matter" refers to a component composed of several particles that consume space and possess momentum. The numerous kinds of particles each possess a unique weight and size, per the fundamentals of current chemistry.

What Constitutes Matter?

Atoms, which are made up of electrons, protons, and neutrons, all constitute matter. An atom’s nucleus, which lies in the middle, contains simultaneously protons and neutrons. Neutrons are neutrally charged, whereas protons are positively charged.


What is the Physical Nature of Matter?

  • The matter is made of tiny particles. These tiny particles might be of different varieties.

  • These incredibly tiny particles are invisible to the naked eye. The only way to see them is by using a powerful microscope.

  • The components of matter are always moving.

  • Space separates matter particles from one another.

  • Due to the force of attraction, matter particles are drawn to one another.

Matter Classification

Chemical and physical states are the two categories in which matter can be categorised. The matter is classified into three kinds depending on the physical state of matter under typical temperature and pressure conditions:

Matter can even be categorised chemically. For instance, matter can be classified as impure and pure compounds (single components or compounds).

List the Properties of Matter

A substance's density, volume, colour, malleability, mass, length, odour, melting point, hardness, temperature, and other characteristics are all considered to be properties of matter. While some physical characteristics of matter, like the density of gold, remain constant, others—like the mass of a golf ball in comparison to that of a bowling ball on the quantity of material involved or the properties of the mixture.

The chemical and physical properties of matter are the two characteristics that set matter apart from other substances.

Physical Properties of Matter

These properties incorporate details like size, form, colour, and texture. Physical characteristics also include melting point and freezing point. Each substance has specific physical features that set it apart from others. Physical properties can alter, occasionally irrevocably and perhaps forever. For instance, after ice melts, the water may be refrozen. Still, after wood burns, many of its atoms escape as gases (such as carbon dioxide and water vapour), making it impossible to reassemble the match in its initial form.

Chemical Properties

Chemical properties relate to a substance's chemical composition or how it interacts with other compounds. For instance, when water and vinegar are added to various amounts of baking soda, proof of the varied chemical properties can be seen when carbon dioxide bubbles up from the baking soda that has been combined with vinegar but not from the piece to which water has been introduced. A fresh compound having distinct and novel properties from the previous substances is generated during a chemical reaction.

Interesting Facts

  • In addition to its physical and chemical states, matter can also exist in two additional states: Plasma and Bose-Einstein Condensate.

  • The properties of an element are shared by all of its atoms, although chemical processes have the power to alter an element's characteristics significantly.

  • Solids can exist in two different forms: crystalline and amorphous.

  • By electrically ionising the noble gases to the plasma state, they are frequently utilised to create illuminating signs. For example, stars are superheated plasma balls.

Key Features to Remember

  • Our surroundings are made up entirely of matter. The matter is a term used to describe a material that possesses mass and consumes space.

  • The density of a solid is the mass that it takes up in relation to its volume.

  • The gaseous form of matter has the biggest inter-particle gaps among the three states of matter.

  • Various particles are kept as close to one another as feasible by the inter-particle connections in the gaseous state.

  • The three states of matter are created by the inter-particle distances that are present in different forms of matter.

Competitive Exams after 12th Science

FAQs on Physical Nature of Matter

1. Do photons have matter? Why?

Since photons are massless particles, they are not part of the matter.

2. A liquid's shape is not fixed. Why?

Since liquid has no set shape, it adopts the form of any container it is placed in. This is due to the weak interparticle interactions, which make it simple for particles to move from one layer to another.

3. Explain the properties of the solid and gas states of matter.

Solid state is crowded with molecules, and they are hard and rigid. When compared to liquid molecules, gas molecules are further apart.