What is matter?
Everything around you is made of matter. Your chair, the water in your cup and the air you breathe are all matter. Matter has mass and takes up space.
Key idea
Matter comes in three states: solid, liquid and gas.
The three states
A solid keeps its own shape and size. A stone, a book and a coin are solids. A liquid can flow and takes the shape of its container, but the amount stays the same. Water, milk and oil are liquids. A gas has no fixed shape. It spreads out to fill all the space it can, like the air in a balloon.
| State | Shape | Example |
| Solid | Fixed | Stone |
| Liquid | Takes container shape | Water |
| Gas | Fills the space | Air |
Example
Pour water into a tall glass and it becomes tall. Pour the same water into a wide bowl and it spreads out. The amount is the same, but the shape changes because water is a liquid.
Remember
- Solid = fixed shape and size.
- Liquid = flows, shape changes, amount stays the same.
- Gas = no fixed shape, fills the whole space.