Matter is the term used for all substances and materials from which the universe is composed. The air we breathe, the food we eat, clouds, stones, plants, animals, a drop of water or a grain of sand – everything is matter. All matter has two properties in common: it has mass and it occupies space. This chapter classifies matter on the basis of chemical composition into elements, compounds and mixtures, and explains how mixtures are separated and how solutions, colloids and suspensions differ.
1. Matter and Its Chemical Classification
Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Not all things that we see or feel are matter: sunlight, sound, force and energy neither occupy space nor have any mass, so they are not matter.
- Broadly, matter is classified into pure substances and mixtures.
- Pure substances contain only one kind of particles. Elements and compounds are pure substances.
- Impure substances (mixtures) contain more than one kind of particles.