THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATTER

AH matter is composed of only about a hundred fundamental kinds of matter called elements. Each element is made up of very small entities called atoms all atoms of the same element behave identically chemically. The study of chemistry, therefore, can logically begin with elements and the atoms of which they are composed. 

---

Yet perhaps it is not as surprising as all that. True, I could not possibly have memorized the quirks and foibles of all ninety-two elements up to uranium in the Periodic Table, chemistry s group portrait of the building blocks of matter. 

The development of nuclear physics, relating the building blocks of matter and energy, showed that the sun could burn as a nuclear furnace for the long ages of time required by evolution. The heart of the sun was a furnace for nuclear chemistry, not for chemical combustion. Then astronomers and cosmol-ogists began to work out ways in which chemical elements were produced in the nuclear furnaces of the sun and stars. 

All matter is made of tiny bits called atoms. An atom is the smallest unit of an element that has the chemical properties (traits) of the element. Elements are the building blocks of matter in the universe. Elements combine with other elements to form different types of matter. 

One can take an apparently more fundamental approach by making a simple extension of the classical theory instead of identifying atoms as the building blocks of matter we postulate that electrons and nuclei2 are the elementary constituents of atoms. One can then start a discussion of quantum chemistry with some such definition as a molecule consists of a bound system of electrons and nuclei that interact according to the laws of... 

Science is concerned with studying the laws of nature. Chemistry is the science that involves the study of atoms, the building blocks of matter. It is concerned with how these atoms interact with each other in chemical reactions, to produce new substances. Chemists study the structure of matter and try to make connections between the structure and the properties of substances. Studying the characteristics of the elements and compounds that are found in nature has allowed chemists to create other substances with desirable properties, some of which make our lives longer and easier. 

Millions of substances are known to chemists, but only 112 are elements. These 112 elements combine with each other to form all the millions of known compormds. That s why the chemical elements are often referred to as the building blocks of matter. 

Every material object in the universe is made from one or more of the hundred-odd elements. So we can rightly call the elements the building blocks of matter. 

Thus the salt water can be converted into four simple substances hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, and chlorine (Figure 2.6 on the next page). Chemists are unable to convert these four substances into simpler ones. They are four of the building blocks of matter that we call elements, substances that cannot be chemically converted into simpler ones. (We will get a more precise definition of elements after we have explored their structure in more detail.)... 

These results have led to the Standard Model of the building blocks of matter. According to this model all matter on Earth — and likely in the Universe — (and including our own bodies) consists of > 99% of quarks with associated gluons. The rest is electrons. 

The important thing to remember right now is that elements are the building blocks of matter. And they re represented in a strange table you may have seen at one time or another — the periodic table. (If you haven t seen such a table before, it s just a list of elements. Chapter 3 contains one if you want to take a peek.)... 

Atoms are the building blocks of matter. If we are to understand the macroscopic properties of an element, we must first understand the microscopic properties of its atoms. Properties studied on an atomic scale correlate directly with properties of the element on a macroscopic scale. 

Start with the statements your teacher writes on the hoard or you find listed in your textbook. For example, look at the five statements from Dalton s atomic theory in your textbook, in the chapter "Atoms The Building Blocks of Matter."... 

As you have read, elements are pure substances that cannot be decomposed by chemical changes. The elements serve as the building blocks of matter. Each element has characteristic properties. The elements are organized into groups based on similar chemical properties. This organization of elements is the periodic table, which is shown in Figure 3.2 on the next page. 

If a model successfully explains many phenomena, it may become part of a theory. The atomic model is a part of the atomic theory, which you will study in the chapter Atoms The Building Blocks of Matter. A theory is a broad generalization that explains a body of facts or phenomena. Theories are considered successful if they can predict the results of many new experiments. Examples of the important theories you will study in chemistry are kinetic-molecular theory and collision theory. Figure 1.3 shows where theorizing fits in the scheme of the scientific method. 

---