The structure of all items on Earth lead to specific or multiple functions that relate to how items can interact. These interactions can be predicted by observing varying patterns across the matter found on Earth. As you work through this section and investigate matter further you will be able to gather a deeper understanding of the big ideas and start to answer some of the big questions.

Matter

All things are made of matter, and all types of matter have different characteristics that can be observed through our senses or enhancement of our senses. Matter is composed through the arrangements of atoms in compounds, mixtures, and elements. These three categories describe the makeup and characteristics of all things. For example, water is a compound. The makeup of water is explained through the arrangement and bonding of the atoms hydrogen and oxygen. Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen resulting in the arrangement of a compound.

The arrangement of atoms helps define the behaviors of the atoms. The behavior of the atoms define the states of matter of a solid, liquid, and gas. The behaviors can be looked at as characteristics (figure 6). Referring back to the water example, one characteristic of water can be what happens when the temperature of water changes. Water in its original form is a liquid. If water gets heated up it can start to boil and be released as steam which is a gas. If water gets below freezing the water freezes and turns into ice becoming a solid. In the process of changing the state of matter the characteristics continue to change under the surface in the movement of the molecules. This is just one example of how the characteristics of matter are dependent upon the chemical makeup of the matter interacting with the environment around the matter.

Figure 6: Arrangement of Matter

(Lojaya, 2013)

Atoms

Atoms compose all matter and are the smallest unit of matter. The different compositions of different types of matter have to do with the specific structure and make up of the specific atoms in a particular type of matter. Specifically it has to do with the different types of atoms, arrangements of atoms, and movements of atoms. These factors influence why everything is different. If it was not for the variety of types of atoms everything would be composed the same way.

Atoms are tiny particles that are composed of subatomic particles. The subatomic particles of an atom are protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are positively charged located inside the nucleus. Neutrons are neutral; they are not positive or negative. Neutrons are also located inside the nucleus. Electrons are negatively charged and are located outside of the nucleus. For more information refer to figure 7 and 8.

Figure 7: Structure of an Atom

(Ghaniscoach, 2019)

Figure 8: Subatomic Particle Properties

(Ghaniscoach, 2019)

Periodic Table

The periodic table (figure 9) consists of all of the atoms in the universe. The atoms on the periodic table are elements. An element is a pure substance and there might be lots and lots of atoms in a sample of an element, but they are all the same type of atom. Any sample of the elements on the periodic table is an example of what would be classified as an element. Within each square on the periodic table you will find the element symbol, atomic number, and atomic mass. The atomic mass reported is the average atomic mass of the specific type of atom. The atomic number is the total number of protons. The periodic table is arranged by the atomic number. Typically the table shows a color code indicating the elements as nonmetals and metals which can be further broken into categories. On the periodic table you can also see the elements arranged in groups (number above 1-18) and periods (number on the sides 1-7 periods). For more information about the periodic table see the videos and interactive below.

Figure 9: The Periodic Table

(Shribman, 2019)