Matter is anything that has volume and mass.

It can exist in several distinct forms

which we call phases. They are solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. Properties describe matter. A

block of wood, milk and air all have properties. All the material on earth is in three states-solid,

liquid, and gas. The "state" of the matter refers to the group of matter with the same properties.

In other words, you group the objects together according to their properties.

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 SOLIDS

The particles (ions, atoms or molecules) are

packed closely together. Solids have an infinite number of free

surfaces. The forces between particles are strong enough so

that the particles cannot move freely but can only vibrate.

Molecules are held close together and there is very little

movement between them. As a result, a solid has a stable, definite shape, and a

definite volume. Solids can only change their shape by force, as when broken or cut.

One of the main characteristics of solids is that they hold their own shape.  

Therefore, if you put a solid in a container, it will not change its shape.  You can move

the container all around and the solid will still not change its shape!  Another

characteristic of solids is that they are very difficult to compress.  When you compress

any type of matter, you are applying a force a certain amount of matter into a smaller

space.  If we take a closer look at the atoms of a solid, they are very close together and

have very little energy. A solid is rigid with a fixed shape which stays the same no

matter what you put it in. Put a rock on the table, into a box, into a backpack - it's still

the same rock.

LIQUIDS

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 Is a structure of a classical monatomic liquid. Atoms and

molecules have more space between them than a solid does,

but less than a gas. One of the main characters of liquids is

that they hold the shape of the container it is placed in.  In

other words, it will fill up as much space of the container as it possibly can.  Liquids are

also difficult to compress.  The atoms in a liquid are not as close together compared to a

solid.  Therefore, the energy of a liquid is much greater than a solid but less than that of

a liquid. A liquid is fluid, and affected by gravity. Therefore, liquids will conform to the

shape of whatever they are put into, on earth filling the container from the bottom up.

Try pouring a glass of water into a different shaped container and you'll see what I

mean.

GASES

One of the main characters of gases is that they fill a

container of any size or shape. A gas has no definite shape or

volume, but occupies the entire container in which it is

confined. Molecules are moving in random patterns with

varying amounts of distance between the particles. Therefore, gas is everywhere!  In

fact, the gas that surrounds the earth is called the atmosphere.  The atoms of a gas are

really spread out and are full of energy.  As a result, they are always zipping around. A

gas is a compressible fluid. Not only will a gas conform to the shape of its container but

it will also expand to fill the container.

PLASMAS

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 Is an ionized gas, the fourth state of matter. It is distinct

from other lower-energy states of matter. Plasma is a very

good conductor of electricity and is affected by magnetic fields.

Plasma, like gases have an indefinite shape and an indefinite

volume. This phase of matter is very similar to gases, but the atoms are different

because they are made up of free elections and ions of the element.  In fact, these

electrons and ions have little or no order which why they are similar to gases. Plasmas

are by far the most common phase of matter in the universe, both by mass and by

volume. All the stars are made of plasma, and even the space between the stars is filled

with plasma, albeit a very sparse one. Plasma was first identified in a Crookes tube, and

so described by Sir William Crookes in 1879.

1. Bose-Einstein condensates
In 1924, Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose predicted the "Bose-Einstein
condensate," sometimes referred to as the fifth state of matter. In the gas phase, the
Bose-Einstein condensate remained an unverified theoretical prediction for many years.
In 1995 the research groups of Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, ofJILA at theUniversity of
Colorado at Boulder, produced the first such condensate experimentally. A Bose
Einstein condensate is "colder" than a solid. It may occur when atoms have very similar
(or the same) quantum levels, at temperatures very close to absolute zero (–273.15 °C).

2. Fermionic condensate

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 A fermionic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low
temperatures. It is closely related to the Bose-Einstein condensate, a superfluid phase
formed by bosonic atoms under similar conditions. Unlike the Bose-Einstein
condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using fermions instead of bosons. The
earliest recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a
superconductor; the physics of other examples including recent work with fermionic
atoms is analogous. The first atomic fermionic condensate was created by Deborah S.
Jin in 2003. A chiral condensate is an example of a fermionic condensate that appears
in theories of massless fermions with chiral symmetry breaking.

3. Superfluids
Superfluids is a phase of matter in which viscosity of a fluid vanishes, while heat
capacity becomes infinite. These unusual effects are observed when liquids, typically of
helium-4 or helium-3, overcome friction in surface interaction at a stage (known as the
"lambda point", which is temperature and pressure, for helium-4) at which the liquid's
viscosity becomes zero. Also known as a major facet in the study of quantum
hydrodynamics, it was discovered by Pyotr Kapitsa, John F. Allen, and Don Misener in
1937 and has been described through phenomenological and microscopic theories.

4. Rydberg matter
Rydberg matter has been reported to be formed by cesium (Cs), K, hydrogen
(H), H2, and nitrogen (N2). It is also expected that Rydberg matter can be formed by
other alkali atoms like sodium (Na). Observational evidence of Rydberg matter formed
by helium atoms (He) in outer space also exists, since the diffuse interstellar bands
(DIBs) are well described by doubly-excited circular helium atomic states embedded in
Rydberg matter. It is a solid or liquid state of matter formed by highly excited atoms or
molecules. It was predicted around 1980 by É. A. Manykin, M. I. Ozhovan and P. P.
Poluéktov.

5. Quark-gluon plasma

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 Quark-gluon plasma is a state of matter in which the elementary particles that
make up the hadrons of baryonic matter are freed of their strong attraction for one
another under extremely high energy densities. This is a state of matter discovered at
the CERN in 2000, in which the quarks that would normally make up protons and
neutrons are freed and can be observed individually, similar to splitting molecules into
atoms. This state of matter allows scientists to observe the properties of individual
quarks, and not just theorize.
6. Degenerate matter
Degenerate matter is matter which has such extraordinarily high density that the
dominant contribution to its pressure is attributable to the Pauli exclusion principle.[1]
The pressure maintained by a body of degenerate matter is called the degeneracy
pressure, and arises because the Pauli principle prevents the constituent particles from
occupying identical quantum states. Any attempt to force them close enough together
that they are not clearly separated by position must place them in different energy
levels. Therefore, reducing the volume requires forcing many of the particles into higher-
energy quantum states. This requires additional compression force, and is made
manifest as a resisting pressure.
7. Supersolid
A supersolid is a spatially ordered material with superfluid properties.
Superfluidity is a special quantum state of matter in which a substance flows with zero
viscosity.
8. Superglass
A superglass is a phase of matter which is characterized at the same time
bysuperfluidity and a frozen amorphous structure.
9. Liquid crystal states
Liquid crystals (LCs) are a state of matter that has properties between those of a
conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a
liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different
types of LC phase, which can be distinguished by their different optical properties.

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Classification of matter

 Pure substance: something made up of one kind of material with specific

properties. Both elements and compounds are pure substances.

 Mixture: combination of two or more pure substances. Some examples are

granite, trees, and pencils.

 Compound: substance that contains two or more elements combined in a fixed

proportion. Compounds can be written as a formula. Common examples are

water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sodium chloride (NaCl).

 Element: simplest type of pure substance; contains only one type of atom.

Elements are the substances listed on the periodic table.

 Heterogeneous mixture: mixture where the different phases (parts) can be

seen. Dirt and a mixture of salt and pepper are examples.

 Homogeneous mixture: mixture where the different phases (parts) cannot be

seen. These can also call solutions. Salt water and brass are examples.

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