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WHAT IS MATTER?

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In general term Matter is anything that has mass and occupies spaces.

Well it's true because almost everything in the universe is made up of matter. Examples of matter includes Plants,Animals, water and even the air we breath. We can also classify ourselves as matter.

Matter is known to be built up of one or more of the following elementary particles: atoms, molecules and ions.

PROPERTIES OF MATTER:

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Every substances are identified by the characteristics they possess which can be called PROPERTIES. It can either be Physical or Chemical Properties.

Physical Properties: They are properties associated with physical changes. Common physical properties of a substance include: its boiling point, melting point, hardness, density, crystalline form, malleability and as well as properties which may be detected by the senses like sense of smell, taste and colour

Chemical Properties: They are those properties that are involved when matter undergoes any change to form new substances. Example: The rusting of an iron would be a chemical property of iron since a new substance called iron rust was formed.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGES:

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**Physical Changes** - They are changes which can be easily reversed and in which no new substances can be formed.

Examples of Physical changes are:

• Separation of mixtures by evaporation, distillation, sublimation, fractional distillation and crystallization.

• Changes in the States of matter such as the freezing of liquid to solid, melting of solid to liquid, vaporization of liquid to gas, sublimation of solids to vapours and liquefaction of gases to liquids.

• The magnetization and demagnetization of iron rods

Chemical Changes - This are changes which are not easily reversed and in which new substances can be formed.

Examples of Chemical Changes are:

• The rusting of iron
• The changes in an electrochemical cell
• Fermentation and decay of substances
• The addition of water to quicklime
• The dissolution of metals and limestone in acids

ELEMENTS:

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Elements are substance which cannot be split into simpler units by an ordinary chemical process. Example of elements substances are: Iron, gold, tin, iodine, oxygen e.t.c.

Classification of elements:
Elements are classified as Metals and Non-Metals.
Metals are those elements which ionize by electron loss. Example are: Calcium, Iron, Magnesium e.t.c.
Non-Metals are those elements which ionize by electron gain. Example are: Oxygen, Chlorine, Iodine, Nitrogen e.t.c.

COMPOUNDS:

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A compound is a substance which contains two or more elements chemically together, it is formed as result of chemical change. It is a substance with entirely different properties from those of: the substances from which it was formed, or its component elements. The component elements of a given compound are always present in a fixed ratio by mass.

Example:
water is a compound formed as result of a chemical reaction between the component elements, hydrogen and oxygen, in the ratio of 2:1 respectively, while
carbon (IV) oxide is a compound in which the component elements, carbon and oxygen, are in the ratio of 1:1.

REFERENCES:

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https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/chemistry--of-life/elements-and-atoms/a/matter-elements-atoms-article

https://www.homesciencetools.com/a/four-elements

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/General_Chemistry/Print_version