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What Is Matter Made Of?
What have we learned so far about the nature of matter? Think about the activity we did the other
day, when you made basic observations of the “stuff” in our environment. That activity only took us
about 20 minutes, and even though that was a short amount of time, you probably discovered that
different substances have different properties. Through our observations, we also learned that
through heat and pressure, matter can change from one state to another, and new substances can
be formed.
This may not seem like much, but remember, everything that we now know about matter is the
result of thousands of years of humans making observations and experimenting with the different
elements around us, just like you did. It’s the accumulation of this long history that brings us to our
current understanding of matter. Consider this brief timeline of scientists and philosophers who
contributed to our understanding of the nature of matter:
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
In Ancient Greece, around 400 B.C. Democritus’ asked what would happen if he kept cutting
something into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, he thought, that you’d be left with a
particle of matter so small, that it couldn’t be cut any more. He called these small,
indestructible units of matter, “atoms.” The word “atom” literally means, “cannot be cut.”
In 1803, an English Quaker named John Dalton, developed a theory of matter that described
the fundamental nature of atoms that we still use today. His theory is proposed a number of
basic ideas:
o All matter is composed of atoms
o Atoms cannot be made or destroyed
o All atoms of the same element are identical
o Different elements have different types of atoms
o Chemical reactions occur when atoms are rearranged
o Compounds are formed from atoms of the elements
So now we know that matter is made of atoms. And this leads us to more questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are atoms?
What is their nature?
How do atoms of one element (like Hydrogen) differ from another (like Oxygen)?
How do atoms join or come apart from one another to make different compounds (like
water, H20)?
In the spaces below, sketch different models of atoms:
BASIC DIAGRAM OF AN ATOM
A Hydrogen atom with one proton, one electron, and no neutrons
A Carbon atom with 6 protons, 6 electrons, and 6 neutrons
A Nitrogen atom has 7 protons, 7 electrons, and 7 neutrons
What is an Atom?
Atoms are building blocks. If you want to create a language, you'll need an alphabet. If you want to
build molecules, you will need atoms of different elements. Each element is a little bit different
from the rest. Those elements are the alphabet in the language of molecules.
Atoms are the general term used to describe pieces
of matter. You are made up of billions and billions
of atoms. However, you may only find about 40
elements inside of your body. You would
find hydrogen (H) atoms, oxygen (O) atoms, and a
bunch of others. Those other atoms are made of the
same basic pieces, but they are organized in
different ways to make each element unique.
Common Elements
Let's work with that idea for a bit. If you read a
book, you will find a bunch of words on a page.
Letters make up those words. In English, we only
have twenty-six letters, but we can make thousands
of words. In chemistry, you are working with
around 120 elements, and when you combine them
you can make millions of molecules. Molecules are
groups of atoms bonded together in the same way that words are groups of letters. An "A" will
always be an "A" no matter what word it is in. A sodium(Na) atom will always be a sodium atom no
matter what compound it is in. While the atoms may have different masses and organization, they
are all built with the same parts. Electrons, protons, and neutrons make the Universe the way it is.
If you want to do a little more thinking, start with the smallest particles of matter. Those super-tiny
subatomic particles are used to create atoms. Atoms are used to create the molecules around us. As
we just learned, there are almost 120 known types of atoms. That means there are almost 120
elements that can be found in the molecules we know. Smaller molecules can work together and
build macromolecules. It just goes on. Everything you see is built from something else.
You could start really small...
- Particles of matter
- Atoms
- Molecules
- Macromolecules
- Cell organelles
- Cells
- Tissues
- Organs
- Systems
- Organisms
- Populations
- Ecosystems
- Biospheres
- Planets
- Planetary Systems with Stars
- Galaxies
- The Universe
...And finish really big.
Wow. All of that is possible because of atoms.