What is Matter?

What is Matter?

Anything which has mass and occupies space is called matter

Example

• All living things like plants, animals, human beings can be called matter because they have mass and occupy space
• All non-living things like water, oxygen, hydrogen can also be called matter because they also have mass and occupy space

What cannot be called Matter

Abstract things like love, hatred, friendship etc cannot be called matter

This is because they do not have mass and do not occupy space

Ancient and Modern Philosophy of Matter

As per Ancient philosophy of matter

• Matter is classified into 5 elements - Air, Earth, Fire, Sky and Water

As per Modern philosophy of Matter

• Matter is classified on the basis of
  • Physical Properties of Matter
    or
  • Chemical Properties of Matter

What will we study in this chapter?

In this chapter, we will study Physical Properties of Matter

In the next chapter, we will study Chemical Properties of Matter