Sunday, November 8, 2015

Building Blocks of Matter

We have learned a lot of new things this quarter in Science. The first day I came into Science all I knew was that the buildings of life was matter. I didn't know what Halogens are, I didn't know what radioactivity was. I learned that matter is everywhere. Matter is found on your table, your chair and your phone. I also learned about the elements on the periodic table. I learned that matter was atoms.

            Atoms are made up of three particles which are neutrons, protons and electrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons have negative charge and neutrons have no charge. We learned that the number of protons in an atom will tell us the atomic number in each element on the periodic table. The periodic table is placed in the order of the element's atomic number. When Mendeleev first discovered the periodic table he arranged them by atomic mass but as the years have passed the modern periodic table has them arranged in atomic number. Now I know that the periodic is arranged in color by metals, nonmetals and metalloids. The groups in Metals are Alkali Metals, Alkaline Metals, Transition Metals and Rare Earth Metals. The groups for Nonmetals are Halogens and Noble Gases.

          Matter relates to our environment because matter is found everywhere. We learned that rusting in an object can affect the atoms of the element. Let's take iron for an example. Iron goes through oxidation(rusting)when it is affected by air moisture or water. Then it goes through a chemical change and changes the element. Changing the element changes the number of protons, Therefore the atom changes. There are also physical changes which include the physical property of colour, state of matter, odor and etc. Here is the link to the project we did on Chemical and Physical Changes Around Our School.



By Sarah Imran

  

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