WHAT ARE THE GENERAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER? - SCIENCE - 2025

The general properties of matter are mass, volume, weight, impenetrability or hardness, mobility, elasticity, inertia, divisibility, and porosity.

The general properties of matter are those that are related to physical properties such as the size of objects, weight, length and volume and the chemical properties with which matter changes its composition.

Matter is the substance or substances that make up physical objects. It is also defined as the substance that constitutes the universe of observable objects. Matter comes in three states: liquid, solid, or gaseous, each with its own ability to interact with light.

The general properties of matter with examples

- Mass

It is a measure of the amount of matter in a substance, regardless of its spatial location. The value of the mass of a body is not influenced by the force of gravity. It is an extensive property of matter and does not depend on the shape of the substance or the body.

Mass in physics is the resistance offered by a body to change its condition of rest or the constant speed with which it moves. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (Kg).

Example

It takes more effort to push a cargo truck than it takes to move a car. A body that has a mass of 10 kilos at sea level has the same mass on the Space Station. The molar mass of carbon dioxide (CO ₂) is equal to 44 g / mol.

- Volume

It is the amount of three-dimensional space that encloses a closed surface. In addition, it is the space that a substance or form occupies, as well as the space it contains. It is also the amount of space you have in three dimensions: length, height, and width. Its SI unit is the cubic meter (m ³).

Examples

The Moon has a shape that resembles a sphere, and therefore its volume can be estimated by applying the formula V = 4 / 3π.r ³, where r is the radius of the sphere. Books are shaped like a parallelepiped, so their volume is equal to: length · width · thickness.

The volume of a basketball is greater than that of a soccer ball.

- Weight

It is the gravitational force that acts on a body. This is equal to:

Fg = m g

Where m is the mass of the body, and g is the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m / sec ²). The weight of a body here varies depending on its distance from the Earth. The SI unit of weight is the Newton, and expressed in SI units is kg · m · sec ^-2.

Example

The weight of a man on the Moon is much less than his weight on Earth, since the gravity on the Moon is less. The greater the weight of a body, the greater the gravitational force acting on it.

- Hardness

The hardness of an object does not have a universal definition, but it is accepted as the property that a material has to resist the penetration of a load, through the use of a durometer through various procedures. It is also defined as the resistance that a body opposes to being scratched.

A widely used way of measuring the hardness of a mineral is by means of the Mohs scale, based on the scratching of one mineral by another. The hardness scale goes from 1 to 10. The number 1 corresponds to talc, and 10 to diamond.

Example

The diamond scratches any mineral and is not scratched by any. Talc of hardness 1 on the Mohs scale can be scratched with a fingernail. Blackboards are harder than chalk and it is they, in fact, who scratch with chalk and not the other way around.

- Mobility

It is related to the speed with which a body moves. In solid state physics it is the measurement of the ease with which a charged particle moves through a solid material under the influence of an electric field.

The faster a particle moves, the greater its mobility.

Examples

Tennis player mobility allows him to reach balls that other tennis players cannot reach. The mobility of the particles of a gas increases when its temperature varies from 60ºC to 130ºC.

- Elasticity

It is the physical property of an elastic body to be stretched or deformed by a force exerted on it.

The elastic body is capable of exerting a force oriented in the opposite direction to the deforming force, restoring its original shape when said force decreases or stops. The SI unit of elasticity is the pascal (Pa).

Examples

When you push the wall of a rubber ball with your fist, it deforms. But when you remove the fist, the ball returns to its original shape.

A spring can be stretched by exerting force in the direction that it stretches. But when you release the spring, it returns to its original shape.

The lung is an elastic body that expands during the inspiration phase and retracts during the expiration phase.

- Inertia

Physical property of a body to remain at rest or to move with a constant and rectilinear speed; unless a force is exerted on it that causes a change in its movement condition. Inertia is a passive property.

Examples

When you are in a vehicle at a certain speed and accelerate sharply. People will suddenly hit the seats of the vehicles, since in this way the tendency of inertia to maintain the original speed of the people will be expressed.

Conversely, if a vehicle is braked suddenly, people will tend to move towards the front of the vehicle. For this reason the use of seat belts is so convenient.

- Porosity

It is the quality of a physical body to be porous or full of small holes. Porosity is a physical property that allows liquids to circulate through solid state bodies; and in some cases, gases. This makes porous bodies permeable.

Examples

The walls of the renal glomerular capillaries are endowed with pores or channels through which the blood plasma is filtered.

In kitchens, utensils called strainers are used to filter liquids and eliminate the presence of unwanted particles; or otherwise, to concentrate them.

- Severability

It is the physical property of a body to be able to be divided into exactly equal parts. The result of this property is said to be exact and measurable.

Physical space is considered to be infinitely divisible. However, the elementary particles of an atom, the quarks and the leptons, are point particles that do not occupy space; that is, between them there is a space that makes matter not continuous, and therefore, the divisibility is not infinite.

Examples

Divide a cake into equal parts for twelve people. Serve 1 L of orange juice to four children, so that each child receives 250 mL of orange juice.

Themes of interest

Qualitative properties.

Quantitative properties.

Extensive properties.

Intensive properties.

Properties of matter.

References

1. Properties of Matter. Recovered from: educarchile.cl
2. General Properties of Materials. Recovered from: materialstecnicosabasella.wikispaces.com
3. Malysa, S. Ehow in Spanish: What are Porous Materials ?. Recovered from: ehowenespanol.com
4. Experiment: Divisibility of Matter. Recovered from: Cienciasnaturales.carpetapedagogica.com
5. Matter and its properties. Recovered from: canvas.utp.edu.pe
6. Physical Properties of Matter. Recovered from: depa.fquim.unam.mx
7. Classification of Materials. Recovered from: uwosh.edu
8. Properties of Materials. Recovered from: ielm.ust.hk.