OLogy Cards > matter

matter

A bike, a tree, a cloud, an ocean—any object you can name—it's all made of matter. Even YOU are made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms. The only difference between different kinds of matter—whether you're talking about bugs, rocks, humans, or stars—is the way their atoms fit together.

Stats

Made of: tiny particles called atoms
States of matter:solid, liquid, gas
Solid: a substance that keeps its size and shape
Liquid: a substance that flows freely like water
Gas: a substance that has no fixed shape and tends to expand without limit
Cool fact: If you took the space out of all the matter in New York City, Manhattan would fit in a matchbox. Matter has lots of space in it.

Stumper

The amount of space taken up by matter is its:

density

mass

volume

Correct!

The amount of space taken up by matter is called volume. For example, the volume of a balloon is greater than the volume of a marble.

Stumper

Matter can be:

a solid, liquid, or gas

only a solid

plasma

Correct!

Matter can be a solid, liquid, or gas. Think about water, or H₂O. It's a liquid when it comes out of your faucet, a solid when it's in the form of an ice cube or a glacier, and a gas when you boil a pot of it on the stove.

Fact or Fiction

A liquid has more energy than a solid.

Fact

Fiction

Fact

A liquid has more energy than a solid because the atoms in a liquid can move around. Gas has even more energy because its atoms move even faster.

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