Science & Technology Centre
Triple Science
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, motion, energy and force. The main objective of the study of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. Take a quick look around you. You may be in a building or you may be outdoors. Everthing you can identify that has mass and occupies space is matter. A cellphone, pen, book, wall, tree, stone, animals all have shape and texture. All of these things are matter.
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| Solid - Liquid - Gas - Plasma |
Four States of Matter We will focus on the first three states of matter. Namely - solid, liquid and gas. The fourth stage is plasma. It contains a significant portion of charged particles – ions and/or electrons.
A solid is a stable object with a definite shape. A brick is a solid. A chair, table, pen. We can identify a solid object by its shape.
A liquid is a fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a constant volume independent of pressure. The best example of a liquid is water.
A gas is a substance which it will expand freely to fill the whole of a container, having no fixed shape (unlike a solid) and no fixed volume (unlike a liquid).
Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. This is the law of conservation of matter (mass). It has specific properties. Study this video about the properties of matter.
Test your knowledge level of basic physics.