Classification of Matter
Everything you can touch, see, or feel is matter - anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter exists in five different states: Bose-Einstein condensate asuper−cooledstate, solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.
Matter branches into two main categories: mixtures and pure substances. Mixtures combine different substances that can be separated by physical methods. They're either heterogeneous visiblynon−uniform or homogeneous (uniform throughout). Pure substances have fixed compositions and can only be separated by chemical methods.
Pure substances are either compounds (made of different elements chemically combined) or elements (basic substances that can't be broken down further). Elements consist of atoms, which contain a nucleus (made of protons and neutrons) and electrons orbiting around it.
Did you know? Protons and neutrons aren't even the smallest particles! They're made of even tinier particles called quarks. It's like discovering smaller and smaller Russian nesting dolls!