Matter in Our Surroundings

Flashcards for vocabulary review based on lecture notes about matter.

Matter

Anything in the universe that occupies space and has mass.

Panch Tatva

Early Indian philosophers classified matter into five basic elements: air, earth, fire, sky, and water.

Mass

A fundamental property of matter, the SI unit of which is the kilogram (kg).

Volume

The amount of space that a substance or object occupies; the SI unit is the cubic meter (m3).

Diffusion

The intermixing of particles of two different types of matter on their own.

Kinetic Energy

Energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.

Solid State

One of the three states of matter; has a definite shape, distinct boundaries, and fixed volume.

Liquid State

One of the three states of matter; has no fixed shape but has a fixed volume and takes the shape of the container.

Gaseous State

One of the three states of matter; highly compressible and diffuses very fast into other gases.

Compressibility

The ability of a substance to be reduced in volume by application of pressure.

Rigidity

The state of not being able to be bent or forced out of shape.

Fluidity

The ability of a substance to flow easily.

Melting Point

The minimum temperature at which a solid melts to become a liquid at atmospheric pressure.

Fusion

The process of melting; change of solid state into liquid state.

Latent Heat

The heat energy absorbed or released during a change of state without any change in temperature.

Boiling Point

The temperature at which a liquid starts boiling at atmospheric pressure.

Latent Heat of Fusion

The amount of heat energy required to change 1 kg of a solid into liquid at atmospheric pressure at its melting point.

Latent Heat of Vaporisation

The heat energy required to change 1 kg of a liquid to gas at atmospheric pressure at its boiling point.

Sublimation

The change of state directly from solid to gas without changing into liquid.

Deposition

The change of state directly from gas to solid without changing into liquid.

Evaporation

The phenomenon of change of liquid into vapours at any temperature below its boiling point.

Humidity

The amount of water vapour present in air.

Sublimation

A process where a solid substance changes directly into a gaseous state without passing through the liquid state.

Condensation

The reverse process of sublimation, where a gas changes directly into a solid state without passing through the liquid state.

Evaporation

The process by which water changes from its liquid form to its gaseous form (water vapor).

Difference between Evaporation and Boiling

Evaporation occurs at the surface of a liquid, while boiling occurs throughout the entire liquid.

Condensation

The process by which a gas or vapor changes into a liquid.

Boiling Point

The temperature at which a liquid boils and turns into vapor.

The process by which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below