03.05 Properties of Matter

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Greetings and welcome to this lesson about the properties of matter. 



So first let’s discuss the physical properties of matter. When describing the physical properties of matter we can discuss its mass or how much is there or the weight of the matter which is mass times the force of gravity. We can measure the amount of space taken up by an object or its volume. The density of matter can be compared which is measuring how much matter is in a specific volume.  The specific gravity is the ratio of a substance’s density to the density of a reference substance. 


We can describe matter’s specific heat which is how much heat it takes to raise the temperature of a gram of the matter by one degree. Or we could actually measure matters conduction which tells how well that matter transfers heat. 


Matter can also be described or analyzed by its chemical properties.  SO we can analyze what specific elements are found within that piece of matter.  Additionally, we can discuss chemical properties that arise when matter undergoes a chemical reaction (which changes its identity).  These would be defined as how flammable a substance is, under what amount of heat would the substance combust and how toxic the substance is to living organisms. 



One of the most important forms of matter on this Earth and in life is water so it is important to understand the properties of this amazing molecule. Water or H20 is a polar substance. This means one end is + one end is -.  And because of this water can act much like a magnet. When it sticks to other things like a window or a leaf or your skin that property is known as adhesion. Cohesion is when water sticks to itself. So because of polarity water is sticky. This stickiness then contributes to the fact that it takes a lot of heat energy to cause water molecules to separate or vaporize so we say water has a high heat of vaporization. Additionally, since water is sticky it will easily dissolve other sticky or polar molecules….which makes it an excellent universal solvent.  And lastly, because of its polarity, we can describe other substances as being polar or sticky like water and that’s called hydrophilic or molecules that are non-polar and are repelled by water and are hydrophobic.


We can discuss then the 3 main states of matter. a solid which has a definite shape and moves rather slowly. Liquids that can take on the shape of its container and are moving faster and a gas that does have a definite shape and is moving very quickly.



And matter change often changes its phase from one form to another. When the matter goes from a solid to a liquid we say that it is melting. If it is going from a liquid to a solid it is freezing. If it goes from a gas to a liquid it is condensing. A liquid to a gas is vaporizing. Some matter can go from solid to gas and that is called sublimation and if the matter goes straight from a gas to a solid it is called deposition.


So in summary Matter can have a number of physical properties to describe and observe which out changing the substance’s identity. Chemical properties can be observed and in doing so it changes the identity of the substance through a chemical reaction. There are several properties of water that make it very versatile and unique to life all of which are due to its polarity. And matter change from one phase to another (solid, liquid or gas) depending on the substance and surrounding temp.

Thank you for joining our lesson today on the properties of matter No go out and be your best self today and happy nursing!


 




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