What is Matter?
Matter is anything in the universe that is made out of atoms. Atoms are tiny building blocks of all things. Check out our post on atoms! Matter comes in three states: solids, liquids, and gases. We are going to write about each one of them in the next few days. Today, we are going to focus on the solid state of matter.
What is a Solid?
A solid has the atoms packed tightly together, without any gaps. Solids have a definite size and shape. The solid state of matter is very common in the universe. The atoms make the solid positively charged (more protons) or negatively charged (more electrons). Electrons and protons are even smaller parts of atoms. When solids heat up, they turn into liquids. When solids are broken, atoms are not getting split, but atoms are getting pushed away from each other. How tightly packed the atoms are decide whether the solid material is strong or weak. These are all of the properties of solids!