Substances or objects that can (such as water and gold), or can't (such as smartphones) dissolve completely in liquids--or to put it another way, the solubility of matter--is just one physical property that can be used to define different types of matter. Some properties, such as solubility, describe how matter physically changes, while others, such as mass, weight, density and volume, just measure the matter.
Watch this video to find out more about the different ways of describing and measuring matter. As you watch the segment, you might want to check the definitions of specific terms. In addition to the glossary words listed above, melting point and boiling point will be described.
Stop the animation at any time, watch it again, or read the transcript.
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The world around us is made of matter. And this matter is physical--we can hold it, feel it, smell it because it is made up of physical particles (atoms & molecules).
And because of this, matter has physical properties that we can observe and measure. Things like how much it weighs, how much space it takes up, or what color it is.
Matter can also be defined by its physical properties. Gold is, well, gold colored. Helium is less dense than air. Silver conducts electricity like a champ.
Matter can also be defined by the way it physically changes. Solid water turns to liquid water at 32°F. Sugar can dissolve into a glass of lemonade (203.9 grams of sugar in 100 mL of water at 68°F). And believe it or not, gold can boil (4,892°F).
Some physical changes are a result of a change in energy. Add or take away energy from water, and it changes states (solid, liquid, gas). But these changes don’t change the chemical makeup of the matter.
By observing and measuring these physical properties (list: density, volume, mass, weight) and points of physical change (boiling point, melting point, solubility) we can learn a whole heaping lot about the matter that makes up the universe.
In the space below list all the types of physical properties of matter described in the animation. Which of these involve a physical change in the matter?