Understanding Matter

Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Everything you can touch, see, or feel is made of matter—including air!

The States of Matter

Matter comes in three main states:

• Solid: Has a fixed shape and volume (like a rock).
• Liquid: Has a fixed volume but takes the shape of its container (like water).
• Gas: Has no fixed shape or volume (like oxygen).

Properties of Matter

Matter has different properties, such as:

• Mass (how much matter is in something)
• Volume (how much space it takes up)
• Density (how compact matter is, which can be calculated with \( \text{density} = \frac{\text{mass}}{\text{volume}} \))

Why Is This Important?

Understanding matter helps us with recycling, cooking, and even designing new materials for technology.

Fun Fact

Water is one of the few substances that naturally occurs as a solid, liquid, and gas on Earth!