![]() They knew that there were "things" in the world that they could pick up and use, and that some of these "things" could be turned into other "things". ![]() Up until the early 1800s, people didn't really understand matter at all. Knowing that planets, solar systems, and even galaxies are made out of matter doesn't bring us any closer to understanding what matter is. Define matter and explain how it is composed of building blocks known as "atoms".On the other hand, when you add heat to an object, the temperature of the object increases, but even the most sensitive balance cannot detect any difference in mass between an object when cold and when hot. Later, scientists were able to compress gases into such a small volume that the gases turned into liquids, which made it clear that gases are matter. This small amount of mass would have been difficult to measure in times before balances were designed to accurately measure very small masses. ![]() The mass of air, under room conditions, that occupies a one quart jar is approximately 0.0002 pounds. Today, we can measure the mass of a small balloon when it is deflated and then blow it up, tie it off, and measure its mass again to detect the additional mass due to the air inside. Without sensitive equipment, it would have been difficult to convince people that gases are matter. Air (and all other gases) are invisible to the eye, have very small masses compared to equal amounts of solids and liquids, and are quite easy to compress (change volume). You might be able to imagine, however, the difficulty for people several hundred years ago to demonstrate that air has mass and volume. ![]() For most common objects that we deal with every day, it is fairly simple to demonstrate that they have mass and take up space. The definition of matter is anything that has mass and volume (takes up space). 4 The Difference Between Mass and Weight. ![]()
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