Chem CA1 Notes

Matter
Matter is anything that has mass and occupies
space. Both living and non-living are matter.

Democritus, the Greek philosopher, hypothesised

that all matter are made out of discreate
particles, which are too small to be seen. He
named these individual particle ‘atom’. From the
Greek word ‘atomos’, which means indivisible

Another ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle,

hypothesised that matter has a continuous
composition, which can always be broken down
into smaller and smaller pieces.

However, matter is actually made out of discrete

particles according to Democritus hypothesis.
Brownian motion
and Diffusion
Brownian Motion
In 1827, a Scottish botanist, Robert Brown, used a
microscope to observe some pollen grains in
water. He found out that the pollen grains are
moving randomly in the water. This random
movement was known as ‘Brownian Motion’.

About 80 years later, another scientist, Albert

Einstein, explained that the pollen grains in water
were being moved by tiny water particles, which
were constantly and randomly moving. These
moving water particles bombarded or hit the
pollen grains in different directions.

Hence, Brownian Motion can be explained by

thinking of matter as being made up of tiny
discrete particles which are constantly and
randomly moving.

Diffusion
Diffusion is the process of particles move from
high concentrated region to low concentrated
region until it reaches equilibrium.

Diffusion in gas happens faster this is due to the

particles of gas moves freely and widely spaced

Diffusion in ga happens slowly this is due to the

particles of liquid can’t move as freely as liquid
and the space in liquid isn’t as widely spaced as
gas.