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Matter is a general term describing any physical substance, which is sometimes defined in incompatible ways in different fields of science. Some definitions are based on historical usage from a time when there was no reason to distinguish mass from simply a quantity of matter.
In regular cold matter, quarks, fundamental particles of nuclear matter, are confined by the strong force into hadrons that consist of 2–4 quarks, such as protons and neutrons. Quark matter or quantum chromodynamical (QCD) matter is a group of phases where the strong force is overcome and quarks are deconfined and free to move.
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. [1] [2] Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combined without reacting, they may form a chemical mixture. [3]
Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biosphere.
The intermixture of ingredients in a composition of matter may be produced by mechanical or chemical operations, and its result may be a compound substance resolvable into its constituent elements by mechanical processes, or a new substance which can be destroyed only by chemical analysis. [4]
Substance may refer to: Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space; Chemistry. Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition;
A characteristic property is a chemical or physical property that helps identify and classify substances. The characteristic properties of a substance are always the same whether the sample being observed is large or small. Thus, conversely, if the property of a substance changes as the sample size changes, that property is not a characteristic ...
An intensive property does not depend on the size or extent of the system, nor on the amount of matter in the object, while an extensive property shows an additive relationship. These classifications are in general only valid in cases when smaller subdivisions of the sample do not interact in some physical or chemical process when combined.