Grade 5 Science:
Properties of and Changes in Matter
What is Matter?
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Matter is anything that has mass (weight) and volume (it takes up space). has takes up space.
The forms matter takes on are called states. Three common states of matter (on Earth) are:
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Solids, liquids, and gases are example of matter. Electricity, heat, and other forms of energy are not matter; they do not have mass or take up space.
All forms of matter can be described and identified by their properties and
characteristics.
All forms of matter can be described and identified by their properties and
characteristics.
- property - how the substance changes when it interacts with another substance e.g., buoyancy (it floats/sinks), or solubility (it dissolves). There are two types of properties: chemical properties and physical properties.
- characteristic - refers to things we can observe about the substance by itself such as colour, mass, hardness, flexibility, strength, or texture.
States of Matter
Particles of matter behave differently depending on whether they're in the solid, liquid, or gas state.
Photo from Shmoop.com
Solids
At the microscopic level, the particles that make up a solid are very close together and aren't moving around very much. This is because in many solids, the particles are pulled into a rigid, organized structure of particles
Broken glass
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Quartz
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Types of Solids
Type of Solid |
Examples |
Characteristics |
Crystalline solids |
diamonds, some metals, salts, ice, snow, rocks, sand |
True Solids
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Amorphous solids |
glass, rubber, gels, plastics, wax, slime, plastic wrap |
Super-Cooled Liquids
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Crystalline Solids
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Amorphous Solids
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Liquids
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Unlike solids, liquids do not have a definite shape but they do have a definite volume (they take up space).
The particles in liquids are much farther apart than the particles in solids. They're also moving around much more. |
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