Lab Wall

Activity 1: Knowing Matter

Objective:

To define matter operationally.

Materials:

  • Pen
  • 5 sheets of paper

Procedure:

  1. Get a pen. Trace it on a paper. Does it occupy space?
  2. Place the pencil on your palm. Is it light or heavy? Do these to four other materials.
  3. Enter your observations in the report sheet found at the end of the chapter.

We said that everything around us is an example of matter. From your answer from the activity above, we can now define matter as anything that occupies space and has mass. It includes all that can and cannot be seen, like air. It also includes all that can be touched, like water. Thus, everything we see, use and touch are form of matter. The gases that we inhale and exhale are matter. The water we drink is matter. Soil is matter, too. Which is NOT matter?

Energy is not matter, heat, light and sound are not matter. Why? Remember, matter is anything that occupies space and has mass. Let us consider energy, for example. Energy enables us to do work. It drives us to perform our jobs. What is the source of this energy? It comes from the food we eat, the juices we drink and the vitamins we take. The sources of energy are examples of matter because they have mass and they occupy space. But energy does not.

Sound is not matter. We enjoy listening to radios. We are alarmed upon hearing the sound of fire trucks. We are able to hear sounds. But, we cannot see and touch them. We cannot even carry them. But, we can carry some of the things that produce sound like a cassette and a radio. And these things are matter, but sound is not.

Is lightning matter? It is a light. Lighted bulbs give us light at night. The twinkling stars in the night sky give us light. The sun and the moon give us light. These are examples of matter. But the light produced is not an example of matter. We can see it but we cannot touch it. It lights up a certain area but it has no mass. So it is not a matter.

Activity 2: Learning the Nature of Matter

Get a clean, dry glass jar with cover. Fill it up with ice cold water. Cover the jar tightly. Wipe its outside surface dry with a clean rag. Place in a quiet corner where it will not be disturbed. After a few minutes, observe the outside surface of the glass jar.

  1. What do you observe? Explain.
  2. What does your observation prove about the nature of matter?