What’s Matter? Anything that has mass and takes up space

Anything that has mass and takes up space Well, what is mass? For our purposes right now, we can think of mass as the same thing as weight. How heavy things are. (Later we will learn how weight and mass are different)

Lets look at some examples You can feel the weight … and it cannot take up the same space as another object (like your head) at the same time. All solid objects are made of matter. A book has mass (weight) and takes up space

How about things that are liquids like water, milk or oil? Well, you can feel the mass and you could weigh it if you wanted too, but does it take up space? It may look like it is in the same space as another object but it isn’t, it gets pushed out of the way by objects or it could push objects out of the way. Yes, liquids are made of matter too.

How about things that are gases like air, oxygen or helium? Well we can demonstrate that gases take up space by using them to move other objects. We also know that helium is lighter than air…which means that different gases have different masses… …which means they have mass! Yes, all gases are made of matter too.

Well, what is not matter then? Forms of energy are not matter Light Heat Sound Electricity Types of forces are not matter Friction Gravity Magnetism Anything that does not take up space or have mass