MATTER

Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules. Matter is anything that has a mass. Matter is also related to light and electromagnetic radiation. Even though matter can be found all over the universe, you usually find it in just a few forms. As of 1995, scientists have identified five states of matter. They are solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and a new one called Bose-Einstein condensates. The first four have been around a long time. The scientists who worked with the Bose-Einstein condensate received a Nobel Prize for their work in 1995. But what makes a state of matter? It's about the physical state of molecules and stoms.
STATES OF MATTER
There are five main states of matter. Solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and BoseEinstein condensates are all different states of matter. Each of these states is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to another phase when special physical forces are present. One example of those forces is temperature. The phase or state of matter can change when the temperature changes. Generally, as the temperature rises, matter moves to a more active state.
PLASMA
Plasmas are a lot like gases, but the atoms are different because they are made up of free electrons and ions of the element. If you have ever heard of the Northern Lights or ball lightning, you might know that those are types of plasmas. It takes a very special environment to keep plasmas going. They are different and unique from the other states of matter.
FINDING A PLASMA
I. Fluorescent light bulb. They are not like regular light bulbs. Inside the long tube is a gas. Electricity flows through the tube when the light is turned on. The electricity acts as that special energy and charges up the gas. This charging and exciting of the atoms creates glowing plasma inside the bulb.
II. Another example of plasma is a neon sign. Just like a fluorescent light, neon signs are glass tubes filled with gas. When the light is turned on, the electricity flows through the tube. The electricity charges the gas, possibly neon, and creates plasma inside of the tube. The plasma glows a special color depending on what kind of gas is inside.
III. Stars are big balls of gases at really high temperatures. The high temperatures charge up the atoms and create plasma. Stars are another good example of how the temperature of plasmas can be very different.
BOSE-EINSTEIN BASICS
If plasmas are super hot and super excited atoms, the atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) are total opposites. They are super-unexcited and super-cold atoms.
ABOUT CONDENSATION
Let's explain condensation first. Condensation happens when several gas molecules come together and form a liquid. It all happens because of a loss of energy. Gases are really excited atoms. When they lose energy, they slow down and begin to collect. They can collect into one drop. Water condenses on the lid of your pot when you boil water. It cools on the metal and becomes a liquid again. You would then have a condensate.
The BEC happens at super low temperatures. We have talked about temperature scales and Kelvin. At zero Kelvin all molecular motion stops. Scientists have figured out a way to get a temperature only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero. When temperatures get that low, you can create a BEC with a few special elements. Cornell and Weiman did it with Rubidium.
CLUMPING
A cold ice cube is still a solid. When you get to a temperature near absolute zero something special happens. Atoms begin to clump. The whole process happens at temperatures within a few billionths of a degree so you won't see this at home. The result of this clumping is the BEC. A group of atoms takes up the same place, creating a "super atom." There are no longer thousands of separate atoms. They all take on the same qualities and for our purposes become one blob.
SOLUTIONS AND MIXTURES
Solutions are groups of molecules that are mixed up in a completely even distribution. Scientists say that solutions are homogenous systems. Other types of mixtures can have a little higher concentration on one side of the liquid when compared to the other side. Solutions have an even concentration throughout the system. An example: Sugar in water VS. Sand in water. Sugar dissolves and is spread throughout the glass of water. The sand sinks to the bottom. The sugarwater could be considered a solution. The sand-water is a mixture.
A simple solution is basically two substances that are going to be combined. One of them is called the solute. A solute is the substance to be dissolved (sugar). The other is a solvent. The solvent is the one doing the dissolving (water). As a rule of thumb, there is usually more solvent than solute.
FACTORS AFFECTING SOLUTIONS
All sorts of things can change the concentrations of substances in solution .. Solubility is the ability of the solvent (water) to dissolve the solute (sugar). Usually when you heat up a solvent, it can dissolve more solid materials (sugar) and less gas (carbon dioxide). Next on the list of factors is pressure. When you increase the surrounding pressure, you can usually dissolve more gases in the liquid. Think about your soda can. They are able to keep the fizz inside because the contents of the can are under higher pressure. Last is the structure of the substances. Some things dissolve easier in one kind of substance than another. Sugar dissolves easily in water; oil does not. Water has a low solubility when it
comes to oil.
AMALGAMS
Amalgams are a special type of alloy. We like them because we think mercury (Hg) is a cool element. You might know mercury as "quicksilver" or the metal that is liquid at room temperature. Anyway, amalgams are alloys that combine mercury and other metals in the periodic table. The most obvious place you may have seen amalgams is in old dental work. The fillings in the mouths of your grandparents may have been amalgams. We already talked about mercury's being a liquid at room temperature. That physical trait was used when they made fillings. Let's say you have an amalgam of mercury (Hg) and silver (Ag). When it is created, it is very soft. As time passes, the mercury leaves the amalgam and the silver remains. The silver that is left is very hard.
NOTE: Mercury (Hg) is very poisonous. You shouldn't even touch it because it will seep into your skin. Dentists don't usually use amalgams with mercury anymore because it may have slowly poisoned people and gotten them sick.
EMULSIONS
Let's finish up with a little information on emulsions. These special colloids (another type of mixture) have a mixture of oils and waters. Think about a bottle of salad dressing. Before you mix it, there are two separate layers of liquids. When you shake the bottle, you create an emulsion. As time passes, the oil and water will separate to their original states.
ISOTOPES
We have already learned that ions are atoms that are either missing or have extra electrons. Let's say an atom is missing a neutron or has an extra neutron. That type of atom is called an isotope. An atom is still the same element if it is missing an electron. The same goes for isotopes. They are still the same element. They are just a little different from every other atom of the same element. There are a lot of carbon atoms in the universe. The normal ones are carbon-12. Those odd ones may have 7 or even 8 neutrons. Carbon-14 actually has 8 neutrons (2extra). C-14 is considered an isotope of the element carbon.
ATOMIC MASS
Atomic masses are calculated by figuring out how many atoms of each type are out there in the universe. For carbon, there are a lot of C-12, a couple C-13, and a few C-14 atoms. When you average out all of the masses, you get a number that is a little bit higher than 12 (the weight of a C-12 atom). The mass for element is actually 12.011. Since you never really know which C atom you are using in calculations, you should use the mass of an average C atom.
RETURNING TO NORMAL
If we look at the C-14 atom one more time we can see that C-14 does not last forever. There is a point where it loses those extra neutrons and becomes C-12. That loss of the neutrons is called radioactive decay. That decay happens regularly like a clock. For carbon, the decay happens in a couple of thousand years.
NEUTRONS
Neutrons are the particles on an atom that have a neutral charge. So if an atom has equal numbers of electrons and protons, the charges cancel each other out and the atom has a neutral charge. You could add a thousand neutrons you will be creating one super-radioactive atom. Neutrons play a major role in the mass and radioactive properties of atoms. You may have just read about isotopes. Isotopes are created when you change the normal number of neutrons in an atom. You know that neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom. You know that neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom. During radioactive decay, they may be knocked out of there. But under normal conditions, protons and neutrons stick together in the nucleus. Their numbers are able to change the mass of atoms because they weigh about as much as a proton and electron together.
ONE SPECIAL ELEMENTA normal hydrogen (H) atom does not have any neutrons in its tiny nucleus. You can take away the electron and make an ion, but you can't take away any neutrons