Classification of Matter

Rhodora Snow Ph.D.

Definition of Matter

Has mass and occupies space• Examples

– Water– Wood– Plastic

Classification of Matter

Pure Substances• Fixed Composition

Mixtures• Variable Composition

Howdoyouturnthison. A plate of dolly mixture. 29 July 2008. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dolly_mixture.JPG

Kinds of Pure Substances

Elements • One type of atom • All discovered

elements are listed in a periodic table

Accordion Guy. Periodic Table of Google Images. September 2006.

http://www.neatorama.com/2006/09/24/

Kinds of Pure Substances

Compounds• Made of two or more

elements in a fixed ratio• Examples

• Water (2 H: 1 O)• Sakurambo. Water molecule. 4 August 2007.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Water_molecule_2.svg

• Hydrogen peroxide (2 H: 2 O)• Benjah-bmm27, Hydrogen peroxide. 5 May 2007.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hydrogen-peroxide-3D-vdW.png

Elements and Compounds

• Compounds may be separated into its component elements.

• Example– Electrolysis of water – General Chemistry students of University of

Siegen [photographer], Public Domain, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Elektrolyse1.jpg

Mixtures

Two or more substances physically mixed Examples are

Air (mixture of mostly nitrogen and oxygen) Steel (mixture of iron, nickel, carbon abd

chromium) Sugar-Water (two mixtures may look the same

but one could taste sweeter because it has a higher ratio of sugar to water)

Kinds of Mixture

Homogeneous• small particles• Uniform throughout• May separate the salt from water by

boiling off the water

Heterogeneous• Big particles• Can distinguish boundary of particles• May separate the nuts and bolts by

pouring off the water

Classification of Matter