What Is Matter?

Do you think air is matter? Everything that takes up space and has mass is matter.

The photograph shows one way you can find out if air is matter. What observations can you make?

The inflated balloon takes up more space than the deflated balloon. The inflated balloon tips the stick. This means that it is heavier than the deflated balloon. You can feel there is something inside the inflated balloon by gently squeezing it. You can also feel air rushing out of an inflated balloon when you release the top.

Like other things, air is matter (MAT·uhr). Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter also has properties (PRAHP·uhr·teez). A property is a characteristic of something that you can observe. Examples of the properties of matter include color, texture, shape, size, and hardness.matter

Matter is the “stuff” that makes up the things around you. However, not all things are matter. Think about the color yellow, the month of October, and the number 46. They are not matter but ideas. They do not take up space. They do not have mass. They cannot be described by properties. For example, the color yellow is used to describe matter. Yellow can’t be hard, small, or cold. It has no texture or shape.

You just learned that some of the properties used to describe matter are color, texture, shape, size and hardness. Other properties include smell, temperature, magnetic attraction, ability to dissolve in a liquid, and buoyancy (BOY·uhn·see). buoyancy

You are probably familiar with most of these properties, but what about buoyancy? Buoyancy is the upward force of water, another liquid, or air that keeps things afloat.

Is there some way you can use properties? Properties help people choose the right types of matter for different jobs. What properties does glass have that makes it good for windows but bad for gym floors? Based on their properties, where might you use iron instead of wood? Where might you use wood instead of iron?

Useless Items Useless ItemProperties That Make It Useless Glass baseball batToo fragile, not strong enough Rubber mirror Wooden bike tires Aluminum foil tissues

What are some properties of matter? Answer the question… –With a partner –In your Learning Notebook

matter Anything that takes up space and has mass. Back to text

buoyancy The upward force of water, another liquid, or air that keeps things afloat. Back to text