SCIENCE - FORM 1

MATTER
MATTER HAS MASS AND OCCUPIES SPACE

1. A book which weighs 1 kg and takes up space on you desk is said to have mass
and occupy space.

2. Non-living things such as books, water, soil and air have mass and occupy space.

3. Living things such as plants, animals, and human beings have mass and occupy space.

4. Therefore, all living and non-living things are matter.

THREE STATES OF MATTER

1. Matter is mad up small discrete particles.

2. These particles consist of atoms and molecules.

3. Atoms are the smallest particles. All substances are made up of the smallest particles
i.e. atoms.

4. Molecules are made up of two or more atoms combined together.

5. The following activities are carried out to show that matter is made up of small particles.
1. Matter exists in either a solid, liquid or gaseous state.

2. Matter may exist in solid form, like gold, iron or soil; in liquid form, like oil or water, or
in the form of gas, like air or steam.
3. These forms of matter i.e. solid, liquid and gas are known as the three states of matter.

1. The arrangement of particles determines the shape of matter i.e. whether it is a

solid, liquid or gas.
2. The following activity is carried out to study the arrangement of the particles in the
three states of matter and to explain the differences between them.
1. The particles in matter are always in a state of motion as shown in the figure below.
2. Diffusion occurs when molecules of one substance become mixed with the molecules
of another substance. This motion of molecules is called Brownian motion.

3. Diffusion occurs much more easily in gases followed by molecules by molecules in

liquids and then solids.

4. The following activities are carried out to study the movement of particles in matter.
The comparison of the three state of matter are summarised as shown below:

CONCEPT OF DENSITY

1.Different things of the same volume do not have the same mass.

2. For the same volume, iron, for example, has more mass than wood. Therefore, iron is
said to have a higher density than wood.

3. Density is the mass per unit volume of a substance.

4. The unit of density is g per cm3 (g/cm3) or gram per cubic centimetre.

5. Density can be calculated using the formula shown below.

Example 1

10 cm3 of mercury weighs 136g. Find its density in g per cm3

6. The density of water is 1 g/cm3 and the density of gold is 19.3 g/cm3. This means that
1 cubic centimetre of water possesses 1 gram of water and 1 cubic centimetre of
gold possesses 19.3 gram of gold.
7. The density of a substance depends on the mass of the substance and the arrangement
of the particles or the volume of the substance.

8. From the table above, it can be concluded that

(a) different substances have different densities.
(b) gold is the densest while cork is the least dense.
(c) substances can have similiar volumes but different masses.

9. Denser substances will sink in liquids that are less dense.

10. Substances that are less dense will rise above or float in liquids that are denser.

11. The following experiments are carried out to find the densities of objects with regular
or irregular shapes and the densities of different liquids.

Eksperiment 1
12. The volume of objects that have a regular shape can be calculated. The volume of
objects such as cubes and rods or cylinders can be calculated using the following
formula.

Eksperiment 2
13. The following activities are carried out to compare the densities of substances.
APPLICATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER
1. The three different states of matter are gas, liquid and solid.

2. Each state of matter has its own characteristis properties which man uses for his
own benefit.

3. A gas is easily compressed and liquiefied under high pressure. So gases used for
fuels such as petroleum gas and butane are liquefied under high pressure and stored in
gas cylinders for easy use and transport.

4. Air is easily compressed. So it is pumped into bicycle tyres and motor car tyres to be
used as wheels.

5. A liquid takes up the shape of its container. People who sell perfumes and liquor such
as wine and brandy make very beautiful container of all sorts of shapes to keep these
liquids to attract customers.

6. Water finds its own level. This principle used in the spirit-level. This instrument used
to obtain a perfectly level surface such as for the top of a billiard table.
7. Logs are less dense than water. They floated down rivers to the saw-mills.

8. Iron is very strong. We use it to build bridges and railway tracks.

1. Different substances have different densities. Densities of substances have

many applications in our daily life.

2. Collecting hydrogen gas

(a) Hydrogen gas is insoluble in water and is less dense than water.
(b) In the school laboratory, hydrogen is collected by bubbling the gas through water
and displacing it from a gas jar.

3. Rafts
(a) Rafts are formed from logs which are less dense than water.
(b) A raft can be used to carry goods and people on a river.

4. Floats and buoys

(a) A float is used to keep a person afloat in water. it does not sink in water. It is used
on ships in case of emergency and is also used by people learning to swim.

(b) Buoys float on the sea. They are placed in certain parts of the sea to keep ships away
from unsafe areas.
5. Trawling nets.
(a) A trawling net has floats attached to it so that it can stay upright in the sea for
catching fish.
(b) The floats are usually plastic balls which are big enough to hold up the net.

6. Hot air balloons

(a) A hot air balloon has a burner to heat up the air in the balloon.
(b) The heated air becomes less dense and rises in the balloon, pushing the balloon up.

7. Separating tin ore from the earth.

(a) Tin ore is denser than soil.
(b) Soil containing tin ore is washed down a "palung": this makes the tin ore sink at
the bottom of the "palung" and the lighter soil on top is washed away.

8. Floating a sunken ship.

(a) Large balloons filled with helium gas (second lightest gas) are tied to the sunken ship.
(b) When the balloons rise to the surface of the sea, the ship is pulled to the surface as well.

9. Submarines
(a) A submarines can move under the sea ot at its surface by changing its density.

(b) It has large ballast tanks. filling the ballast tanks with the sea water makes the
submarine denser than sea water and sinks. Emptying the ballast tanks makes it
submarine less dense and enables it to rise to the surface of the sea.
 Sinking and floating objects

1. A piece of plasticine sinks in water because it is denser than water.

2. An object which sinks displaces a very small volume of water, which is less than its
weight.

3. The piece of plasticine can be made to float by shaping it into a bowl.

4. The floating bowl displaces a large volume of water, which is equal to its own weight.

5. A ship uses the same principle shown by the plasticine.

(a) A piece of iron nail sinks in water because iron is denser than water. The iron nail
also displaces a very small volume of water (less than the weight of the iron nail).
(b) A ship made of iron floats on the sea because its shape enables it to displace very
large volume of sea water.
(c) The weight of the volume of sea water displaced is equal to the weight of the ship.
(d) This is the principle of flotation.
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