Types and Properties of Matter

Properties of matter

The measurable characteristics of matter are its properties. Examples are density,
colour, mass, volume, length, malleability, melting point, hardness, odour and
temperature.

Physical properties: It is an attribute of matter that is independent of its chemical

composition. It can be measured without changing its composition. Examples are
mass, color, and volume. Physical properties can be extensive /intensive

• Intensive properties: They are properties that are independent of the size or
volume of material and also independent of the amount of matter present.
Pressure and temperature are examples of intensive properties.
• Extensive properties: A property that is dependent on the amount of matter in
a sample. Example; mass length and volume.

Chemical properties: They are the properties that are measured or observed as
matter transforms from one form to another. It describes the ability of substances to
react and form new substances. Examples are flammability, toxicity and acidity

History of Atomic structure

Leucippus and Democritus

Matter is composed of small, finite particles called “atomos”, a term derived from the
Greek word for “indivisible.” They thought of atoms as moving particles that differed in
shape and size, and which could join together.

John Dalton

An atom is the indivisible, ultimate microscopic component that constitutes matter.

Dalton explained the behaviour of matter using an atomic theory.
The postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory:

1. Matter is composed of exceedingly small particles called atoms. An atom is the

smallest unit of an element that can participate in a chemical change.

2. An element consists of only one type of atom, which has a mass that is characteristic
of the element and is the same for all atoms of that element. A macroscopic sample
of an element contains an incredibly large number of atoms, all of which have identical
chemical properties.

3. Atoms of one element differ in properties from atoms of all other elements.

4. A compound consists of atoms of two or more elements combined in a small, whole-

number ratio. In a given compound, the numbers of atoms of each of its elements are
always present in the same ratio.

5. Atoms are neither created nor destroyed during a chemical change, but are instead
rearranged to yield substances that are different from those present before the
change.

Later experiments showed that the atom can be broken down into smaller fundamental
particles such as quarks and leptons.

JJ Thomson’s Atomic model (The Plum Pudding Model)

JJ Thomson describes the atom as a positively charged mass with an equal amount
of negative charges in the form of electrons embedded in it. Since electrons and
protons have the same magnitude, an atom is electrically neutral.

The plum model of the atom

J. J. Thomson and the cathode ray tube.

J. J. Thomson used a sealed vacuumed glass tube (Fig 1.1) which contained two
metal electrodes in his experiment. A visible beam appeared between the two
electrodes when a high voltage was applied across them. He called this beam a
cathode ray. The cathode rays were deflected toward positive charges and away from
negative charges and was produced in the same way with identical properties when
different metals were used as electrodes. He also deflected his cathode rays by an
applied magnetic field. Thomson measured the extent of deflection and the magnetic
field strength from which he calculated the charge-to-mass ratio of the cathode ray
particles. From this experiment, Thomson proposed that:
1. The particles are attracted by positive (+) charges and repelled by negative (−
charges, so they must be negatively charged
2. They are less massive than atoms and indistinguishable, regardless of the
source material, so they must be fundamental, subatomic constituents of all
atoms.
Thomson cathode rays named electrons by Dutch physicist H. A. Lorentz. An electron
is a negatively charged, subatomic particle with a mass approximately two thousands
that of a hydrogen atom. The term “electron” was coined in 1891 by Irish physicist
George Stoney, from “electric ion.”
Properties of Cathode Rays.

1. They travel in straight lines

2. They travel away from the cathode (negative electrode or plate).
3. They are negatively charged (because they move away from the negative plate).
4. Cathode rays are deflected by both electric and magnetic field (because they are
charged).
5. They cast shadows of metallic objects placed in their paths.
6. They cause mechanical motion of materials placed in their paths. Hence, they
have kinetic energy.
7. They produce fluorescence (a glow) when they strike the glass wall of the discharge
tube.
8. They heat up metal foil (incandescence)
9. They produce x-rays when they strike metal target.
10. Cathode rays are produced at right angles.

Hantaro Nagaoka’s Model: Describes the atom as a Saturn-like atom, consisting of a

positively charged sphere surrounded by a halo of electrons.

The Saturn-like model of the atom

Rutherford’s Model of the atom:

1. The volume occupied by an atom must consist of a large amount of empty space.

2. A small, relatively heavy, positively charged body and the nucleus which must be
at the center of each atom.

Rutherford proposed an atom to consists of a very small, positively charged nucleus,

in which most of the mass of the atom is concentrated, surrounded by the negatively
charged electrons, so that the atom is electrically neutral. Rutherford also discovered
that the nuclei of other elements contain the hydrogen nucleus as a “building block,”
and he named this more fundamental particle the proton, the positively charged,
subatomic particle found in the nucleus.

Weakness of the Rutherford’s Atomic Model

Rutherford’s Atomic Model failed to explain the stability of electrons in a circular path.
If a charged particle accelerates around an oppositely charge particle, the charged
particle (in this case electron) loses energy in the form of radiation leading to a
decrease in its speed. From this classical electromagnetic theory, the electron in
circular motion will eventually fall into the nucleus and collapse the atom/nucleus.

James Chadwick and Neutrons

Chadwick discovered the neutrons and described it as uncharged, subatomic

particles with a mass approximately the same as that of protons. This led to the
discovery of Isotopes.

Terms and Definitions

law of conservation of matter: The total mass of matter present when matter changes
from one type to another remains constant.

law of constant composition: (also, law of definite proportions) all samples of a pure
compound contain the same elements in the same proportions by mass

law of definite proportions: (also, law of constant composition) all samples of a pure
compound contain the same elements in the same proportions by mass
law of multiple proportions: when two elements react to form more than one
compound, a fixed mass of one element will react with masses of the other element in
a ratio of small whole numbers

Alpha particles (α particle): They are positively charged particle consisting of two
protons and two neutrons.

Electrons: They are negatively charged, subatomic particle of relatively low mass

located outside the nucleus.

Neutrons: They are uncharged, subatomic particles located in the nucleus

Particle Mass(g) Atomic Electrical Relative Location

Mass charge charge
(amu) (coulombs)
Electron 9.109×10−28 0.0005486 −1.602×10−19 -1 Outside
nucleus
Proton 1.673×10-24 1.007276 +1.602×10−19 +1 Inside
nucleus
Neutron 1.675×10-24 1.008665 0 0 Inside
nucleus

Atomic Number (Z): It is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. It is written
as a subscript of the element eg. 11Na. Here, sodium has 11 protons. Atomic number

Mass or Nucleon Number (A): It is the sum of protons and neutron in the nucleus of
an atom. It is written as a superscript of the element e.g. 40Ca. Here, calcium has mass
number of 24.

A=Z+N, where N is the neutron number.

Atom is represented as: A Z X

 Element: An element is a substance made up of only one type of atom

chemical symbol: It is an abbreviation that is used to indicate/represent an element or

an atom of an element. Below is a periodic table containing elements and their symbol.

Simplified Periodic Table of the First 20 Elements

1H 2He

Hydrogen Helium

3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne

Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon

11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar

Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus Sulphur Chlorine Argon

19K 20Ca

Potassium Calcium
Electronic configuration: It is the arrangement of electrons in the shells of an atom.
The position of elements on the periodic table is described by the following terms:
Group: This refers to elements in each column (vertical section) of the periodic table.
It indicates the number of valence/outer electrons in the atomic structure.

Period: This refers to elements in each row (horizontal) of the periodic table. It tells the
number of shells an element has.

Isotopes: They are atoms with the same atomic number but different mass number
(because of difference in neutron number). Isotopes have similar chemical properties
because they have the same electronic configuration.

A neutral atom: An atom with the same number of protons and neutrons. Therefore, a
neutral atom must contain the same number of positive and negative charges

When the numbers of these subatomic particles are not equal, the atom is electrically
charged and is called an ion. The charge of an atom is defined as follows:

Atomic charge = number of protons − number of electrons

Ions: It is an atom that has lost or gained electron

Cations: It is a positively charged atom

Anions: It is a negatively charged atom

Molecular formula: It is a representation of a molecule using chemical symbols to

indicate the types of atoms and subscripts to show the number of atoms of each type
in the molecule. (A subscript is used only when more than one atom of a given type is
present.) Molecular formulas are also used as abbreviations for the names of
compounds.

Structural formula: It provides information on the types and numbers of atoms in the
molecule as well as how the atoms are connected in the molecule.

Empirical formula: It indicates the types of atoms present and the simplest whole-
number ratio of the number of atoms (or ions) in the compound.

Isomers—They are compounds with the same chemical formula but different
molecular structures. Example is Acetic acid and Methyl formate.