James Staton
Coach Reese
Physical Science
20 September 2019
As we go into Chapter 2 for Physical Science, we will talk about Classifying Matter in objects.
Before we go into classifying matter, we must learn what types of matter there are. The first
matter is a pure substance it is the matter that always the same composition; an element or
compound. An example of a pure substances is sugar, salt, gold, and baking soda or (sodium
bicarbonate). The next object of matter is an element which is a substance that cannot be broken
down into a simpler substance. A fictional example of an element is Captain America’s shield
made from adamantium and vibranium which are fictional elements. Another example of a
element is aluminum foil that is used to wrap food. The carbon is the main element in the marks
you make with a pencil. Symbols for elements, in 1813 Jons Berzelius, a Swedish chemist
suggested that chemist use symbols to represent element. Many of the symbols he assigned to
elements are still used, and each symbol has either one or two letters with the first always
capitalized, if there is not a second letter, it is not capitalized. No matter what country you are
learning chemistry all the symbols are universal so no matter what they will be the same. Next,
we are going to talk about compounds, a compound is a substance that is made from two or
more simpler substances and can be broken down into those simpler substances. The simpler
substances are either elements or other compounds. For example, oxygen and hydrogen are
gases at room temperature, but water is a liquid. Hydrogen can fuel a fire, and oxygen can keep a
fire burning, but water does not burn or help other substances to burn. In fact, water is one of the
substances commonly used to put out fires. Next we will talk about mixtures they are properties
of a mixture can vary because the composition of a mixture is not fixed, And mixtures tend to
retain some of the properties of their individual substances. For example, the type of pepper and
James Staton
Coach Reese
Physical Science
20 September 2019
the quantity of pepper used in a salsa recipe determine the “hotness” of the salsa. Chili peppers
contained a compounded called capsaicin that can cause the burning sensation in your mouth.
The amount of capsaicin varies among types of peppers. And no matter how well you stir a batch
of salsa, the ingredients will not be evenly distributed. There may, for example, be more onion in
one portion of salsa than another. Mixtures can be classified by how well the parts of the mixture
are distributed throughout the mixture. Next, we will talk about Heterogeneous Mixtures they are
a type of mixture in which the parts of the mixture are noticeably different from one another. For
example, if you look at a handful of sand from a beach, the sand appears to be all the same
material. However, if you use a hand lens, you will notice that the sample of sand is not the same
throughout. Now we are going to talk about homogeneous mixtures they are a type of mixture in
which the substances are so evenly distributed that it is difficult to distinguish one substances in
the mixture to another.