Term 1 Grade 6 Notes: Properties of Matter and Changes

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Term 1 Grade 6 Notes covering physical and chemical properties of matter, signs of chemical changes, and environmental applications.

Matter

Anything that takes up space and has mass — like a pencil, a backpack, or air.

Physical Properties

Characteristics of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing what the matter is made of or changing it into another substance.

Mass

How much matter is in an object (how heavy it is), measured with a scale in grams ($\text{g}$) or kilograms ($\text{kg}$).

Volume

How much space something takes up, measured with a measuring cup or graduated cylinder in milliliters or liters.

Texture

How something feels when touched, such as smooth like glass, rough like sandpaper, or soft like cotton.

Solid

A state of matter that keeps its shape, such as a book.

Liquid

A state of matter that takes the shape of its container, such as water.

Gas

A state of matter that spreads out to fill the space, such as air.

Temperature

How hot or cold something is, measured with a thermometer in degrees Celsius ($^\circ\text{C}$), such as ice at $0\,^\circ\text{C}$ or boiling water at $100\,^\circ\text{C}$.

Magnetism

Whether something is attracted to a magnet, as seen in materials like iron, nickel, and cobalt.

Solubility

Whether a substance can dissolve in a liquid, usually water (e.g., sugar dissolves in water, but sand does not).

Density

How tightly packed the matter is in an object, which determines whether an object floats or sinks.

Chemical Properties

Characteristics that tell us how a substance can change into something new and describe its ability to react with other materials.

Flammability

A chemical property describing the ability of a substance to catch fire and burn (e.g., wood is flammable, water is not).

Reactivity

The ability of a substance to combine or react when mixed with other materials like water or air.

Ability to Rust

A chemical property where certain metals react with oxygen and water to form rust (e.g., iron rusts, aluminum does not).

Toxicity

A chemical property describing whether a substance is harmful or poisonous to living things.

Acidity or Basicity (pH)

A chemical property indicating whether a substance is an acid (such as vinegar) or a base (such as baking soda).

Ability to Decompose

The chemical property of a substance to break down naturally over time (e.g., food and leaves decompose, plastic does not easily).

Chemical Change

A change that happens when a substance turns into something new with different materials, which cannot easily be reversed.

Precipitate

A solid that forms when two liquids mix together during a chemical change.

Thermal Conductivity

A physical property describing the ability of a material to conduct heat.

Electrical Conductivity

A physical property describing the ability of a material to conduct electricity.

Luster

A physical property describing how shiny a material is.

Corrosion

The deterioration of metal, which is classified as a chemical property.

Oxidation

A chemical property describing the ability of a substance to react with oxygen.

Composting

A beneficial environmental chemical change where food and plant waste break down into soil nutrients.

Photosynthesis

A beneficial environmental chemical change in which plants use sunlight to make food and release oxygen.

Air Pollution

A harmful environmental chemical change caused by burning fossil fuels, which creates polluting gases.

Acid Rain

A harmful environmental chemical change formed when chemicals from factories mix with rainwater and damage plants and buildings.