Structure of Matter

Look around you. A desk, a rock, a jelly doughnut, your finger, and the school building all have something in common. They are all examples of matter. Do you remember that all matter is made up of tiny particles or pieces that are too small to be seen with the human eye? Sure you do! These tiny particles are called atoms. All atoms have three basic structural components or parts. These parts are protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of an atom, while the electrons move rapidly around the nucleus in an area called the electron cloud. Believe it or not, most of the volume of an atom is made up of empty space. The modern model of an atom looks like a cloud of electrons surrounding a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons. Electrons are represented as a cloud because scientists believe that the electrons are moving so FAST that they almost appear to be everywhere at once in the area surrounding the nucleus. investigate atoms and how they combine to form all the matter on Earth! One type of matter found on Earth is called an element. An element is a form of matter made up of one type of atom. Gold, for example, is an element made up of only gold atoms. An aluminum can is made of the element aluminum. That means that an aluminum can is made up of only aluminum atoms. All of the atoms in an element are basically alike. isotope. isotopes! Sometimes, however, the number of Lets

neutrons in the nucleus may be different. When this happens, you end up with whats called an Most elements have several isotopes. The element gold has approximately 50 Each isotope has a different number of neutrons in its nucleus, but it is still

considered to be the element gold. Changing the number of protons leads to the creation of an entirely different element. The atoms of one element differ from the atoms of another element in the number of protons they have. For example, the element oxygen has 8 protons in its nucleus. If one proton is added to the nucleus of an oxygen atom, a pale yellow, poisonous gas called fluorine is created. Fluorine is an element that has 9 protons in its nucleus. You can use the old-fashioned Bohr model of the atom to show how many protons, neutrons, and electrons are in each atom of an element.

Elements can be represented by chemical symbols. Chemical symbols usually consist of one, two, or three letters. The first letter is always capitalized. All other letters are lower case. Some common elements and their chemical symbols include carbon (C), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), and calcium (Ca). Scientists have identified a little over 100 elements on our planet. However, only a limited number of elements form the largest portion of Earths crust, living matter, oceans, and atmosphere. Some of these predominant elements include silicon, aluminum, iron, sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. In nature, many elements do not occur alone. They easily combine with other elements to form substances called compounds. A compound is created when two or more different elements join together. The smallest particle of a compound is a molecule. A molecule is made up of two or more unlike atoms that are linked together. Water is an example of a very important compound on Earth. Water molecules are made up of two atoms of the element hydrogen joined with one atom of the element oxygen. Calcium carbonate is an example of another common compound. It is the ingredient used in antacids. A molecule of calcium carbonate is made up of one atom of the element calcium, one atom of the element carbon, and three atoms of the element oxygen. Compounds can be represented by chemical formulas. A chemical formula is a type of shorthand or abbreviation used by scientists to represent the elements present in a compound and how many atoms of each element are present. Each element in a compound is represented by its unique chemical symbol. For example, sodium chloride, or table salt, is a compound that consists of one atom of the element sodium (Na) and one atom of the element chlorine (Cl). The chemical formula for the compound sodium chloride is written NaCl. When more than one atom of an element is present in a compound, a small number called a subscript is added to the right of the elements chemical symbol. For example, water is a compound that consists of 2 atoms of the element hydrogen (H) and one atom of the element oxygen (O). Its chemical formula is written H2O. Carbon dioxide consists of one atom of the element carbon (C) and two atoms of the element oxygen (O). Its chemical formula is written CO2. Can you write the chemical formula for the compound calcium carbonate?

Sometimes matter can go through a change.

One type of change is called a chemical For example,

change. When matter goes through a chemical change, its particles or atoms break their bonds to other atoms and rearrange themselves to form a new type of matter. when the compounds carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) combine in a chemical reaction, a new compound, carbonic acid (H2CO3), is produced. Carbonic acid gives soft drinks their fizz. This chemical change is written in the form of a chemical equation. A chemical equation can be used to model, or show, a chemical change. It illustrates how elements become rearranged in a chemical reaction. On the left side of the equation are the chemical formulas for the reactants. Reactants are the starting materials in a chemical reaction. A plus sign is used to separate the formulas of the reactants. On the right side of the equation are the chemical formulas of the products. The products are the substances formed during the chemical reaction. A plus sign is used to separate the formulas of the products. An arrow is used to separate the left side of the equation from the right. The chemical equation for the formation of carbonic acid is written: CO2 + H2O

(reactants)

H2CO3

(product)

Did you notice that the product has the same number of atoms as the reactants? This is very important in a chemical equation. It is interesting that no atoms are lost during this change, or reaction. The number of atoms present in the reactants always equals the number of atoms in the products. When carbon dioxide and water react to form carbonic acid, there are 3 atoms of oxygen, 1 atom of carbon, and 2 atoms of hydrogen on both sides of the equation.

The Three States of Water

Water is the only compound on Earth that commonly exists in all three states: solid, liquid, and gas. It easily changes from one state to another within the range of Earths normal temperatures. When temperatures are below freezing, water is in its solid state. As a solid, water has a specific shape, and its molecules can only vibrate within a very rigid pattern. When thermal energy (heat) is added and the temperature reaches 0C, the water molecules gain energy and begin to move more

quickly. The rigid pattern breaks and smaller groups of molecules join together. Water changing from a solid to a liquid is said to be melting. In its liquid state, water molecules move more freely. Without a definite shape, water in its liquid form takes the shape of the container in which it is placed. As thermal energy (heat) is added and the temperature rises, the molecules in the liquid water gain more energy and begin to move faster, or more rapidly. At 100C another state change happens. When liquid water begins to boil, its rapidly moving molecules escape the liquid in the form of invisible water vapor. Water changing from a liquid to a gas is said to be evaporating. In its gas state, water molecules move very rapidly and tend to spread farther and farther apart. This causes them to quickly fill any container in which they are placed. As water vapor rises, it releases some of its thermal energy and begins to cool down. When its temperature drops below 100C, it will change back into its liquid state. condensation. This change from a gas to a liquid is called

Properties of Water
Water is a unique compound that is made up of molecules. Each water molecule consists of two atoms of the element hydrogen joined to one atom of the element oxygen. An interesting property of water is the ability of its molecules to stick together. This occurs because one side of each water molecule is slightly negative and the other side is slightly positive. The positive portion of a water molecule is attracted to the negative portion of an adjacent water molecule. As a result, water molecules are called polar molecules. They attract other water molecules like little magnets. The sticky property of water is called cohesion. The cohesion between water molecules is so strong that when they come in contact with another substance, such as air, the water molecules at the surface create a "sticky skin. This is known as surface tension. Water has a high surface tension. These bonds are so strong that they can support the weight of insects such as water striders. Striders can move across the surface of water without sinking.

Water molecules also have adhesive properties. This means that they are attracted to other substances that have polar molecules. Some common household items that water is attracted to are glass, plastic, soap, bleach, table salt, and sugar. You can witness the adhesive property of water when you observe the curved surface of water in a graduated cylinder. The upward curving edge of the meniscus is caused by an attraction between the water molecules and the polar molecules of the glass or plastic cylinder. As the water molecules are pulled up the sides of the cylinder, other water molecules follow. This adhesive nature of water also occurs in plants. Water molecules are initially pulled into a plants roots and stems by the polar attraction of molecules. Other substances, such as wax paper, do not have polar molecules. You have probably noticed that when water is placed on wax paper, it will bead up in an attempt to pull away from the wax surface. Oil is another non-polar substance. Water is not attracted to oil. A large number of substances that are attracted to water will mix or dissolve in water. For this reason, water is often called the universal solvent. Water is able to dissolve many substances because of its polar molecules. The positive and negative ends of a water molecule attract the molecules of other polar substances. This attracting or pulling force causes other polar substances to pull apart into individual, or separate, molecules. An example of this occurs when you place sugar in a glass of water. entire glass of water is sweetened. The ability of substances to dissolve in water is important to some of the life processes of living organisms. For example, many gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide will dissolve in water. This means that organisms living underwater, like fish and aquatic plants, can get the oxygen and carbon dioxide they need to survive. This property of water also allows nutrients to be dissolved and carried throughout the bodies of living organisms as well as deep into the soil and groundwater of the Earths crust. Another property of water allows it to absorb thermal (heat) energy without showing large changes in temperature. This property is called specific heat. Because of its high specific heat, large bodies of water moderate, or control, the climate of surrounding areas by absorbing heat in the summer and slowly releasing that heat in the winter. Therefore, the climate near The water molecules will surround the sugar molecules and cause them to break apart from other sugar molecules. Before too long, the

large bodies of water is slightly milder than areas without large bodies of water. This property of water also helps living organisms regulate their body temperature more effectively. Another interesting property of water is when it is in a liquid state, it has a large range of temperatures. This range stretches from 0 to 100 Celsius and allows water to remain as a liquid in most places on Earth. More than 70% of the Earths surface is covered by water. Most of this water can be found in its liquid state filling our oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. Some of the water on Earth is locked into ice caps and glaciers. This water is in its solid state. Unlike other substances, water expands when it freezes and is less dense than its liquid form. This unique property of water occurs because as water freezes, its molecules arrange themselves into a highly organized, geometric pattern similar to a hexagon. The larger oxygen atoms are located at each corner of the hexagon. This rigid pattern spaces the molecules farther apart with large open spaces. These large open spaces cause water to expand when it freezes. This wide spacing of molecules also causes solid water, or ice, to be less dense than liquid water. Because of this property, ice floats in water. If ice were more dense than liquid water, it would sink and ponds and other smaller bodies of water would freeze from the bottom up. This would make it very difficult for fish and other aquatic organisms to obtain food and oxygen during the winter months.