UNIT 5 MATTER AND MATERIALS

1. WHAT IS MATTER?

All the objects you see around you are made of matter. Everything is made of matter.

The properties of matter:

- Mass: It is the quantity of matter that something has.

- Volume: The space that something occupies.

2. What are materials?

A jumper, a table or a pen… are different because they are made from different types
of material. A jumper is made of wool, a table made of wood and a pen made of plastic.
Every type of material that is used to make an object is called material.

Types of materials: 2 types: Natural or Man-made materials.

- Natural materials: Are found directly in nature and include:

_________________________________

- Man-made materials: are made by people from natural materials.

Plastic comes from ________ Paper comes from ___________

Glass comes form _________

WHERE MATERIALS COME FROM

- Plant origin: From plants, we get wood (for making furniture and houses)
and cotton (for making clothes)

wood cotton

- Mineral origin: From rocks, we get marble and granite for building, and
coal for producing heat.

Marble granite coal

 - Animal origin: From animals, we get wool (sheep hair), and leather
(cow skin) and silk (silkworm cocoons)

Silk wool leather

PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS.

Every material has specific properties that are different from the properties of other
materials.

1. ODOUR. We perceive this property with the sense of smell. Some substances like
water are odourless (they have no smell)

2. STATE: Materials can be in a solid state (like wood), in a liquid state (like milk) and in
a gaseous state (like air). In nature, water can be in the three different states.

3. SOLUBILITY. This is the ability of a material to dissolve itself in another material.

4. COLOUR. Every material has a characteristic colour.

5. TEXTURE: This is the texture we perceive with the sense of touch. Glass is smooth,
granite is rough, silk is soft…

6. BUOYANCY. A material floats on another if its mass occupies more

volume (it is less dense)

Less dense materials float on denser ones. Oil floats on water.

7. MALLEABILITY. We can change the shape of

malleable materials. For example the clay.

8. STRENGHT. The strength indicates the capacity to resist a weight without

breaking. Steel is a very strong material.

9. MAGNETISM: Materials with magnetic properties attract

iron and steel objects, such as clips.

10. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY AND INSULATION.

A material is a good thermal conductor if heat
passes through easily. For example, iron.

And a material is a good thermal insulator if heat

does not pass through easily. For example wood and
cork.

THE USES OF MATERIALS.

PLASTIC. It is an artificial material obtained from oil and can substitute many other
materials. We use plastic to make : ____________________________________

PAPER: I t is manufactured from wood. It has many uses:

________________________________________________________________

METAL: There are many metals, their use depends on their properties. We specially use
iron, aluminum, gold and silver.

They are very important because they allow us to transport electricity, construct
buildings and make cars.

WOOD: Wood is obtained from trees. It is used in all kinds of construction, especially
for building homes and furniture. The properties of wood, like hardness and colour,
depend on the tree it comes from. It is also used to make paper.

FABRIC: There is a huge variety of fabrics that have different

properties for different needs and different types of clothes. For
example, they can be waterproof like a
raincoat, lightweight or strong.

GLASS. Glass is made from sand. It is a solid, fragile and

transparent material used to make:
____________________________________________________
 MEASURING INSTRUMENTS. We can measure some properties of
materials, which means we can compare them. We
use measuring instruments to do this.

1. MEASURING LENGTH: To measure the length

of an object we use a tape measure and for small
objects we use a ruler. LENGTH is generally
expressed in metres (m), centimeters (cm) or milimetres (mm).

2. MEASURING WEIGHT. To measure the weight of an object we use scales.

Weight is generally expressed in kilogrammes (kg) or grammes (g)

The needle on the scales on the scales shows the weight of the
apples.

3. MEASURING VOLUME: we can find out the volume

of a solid object by putting the object into a measuring
cylinder containing water.

1º: First, note the level of water.

2º: Then immerse the object we want to measure and note the new level of the water.

3º: Finally, subtract the second measurement from the first and the result will give
you the volume of the object.

Volume is generally expressed in litres or centilitres.