Matter

In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic particles, and in everyday as well as scientific usage, "matter" generally includes atoms and anything made up of them, and any particles that act as if they have both rest mass and volume. However it does not include massless particles such as photons, or other energy phenomena or waves such as light or heat. Matter exists in various states. These include classical everyday phases such as solid, liquid, and gas – for example water exists as ice, liquid water, and gaseous steam – but other states are possible, including plasma, Bose–Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates, and quark–gluon plasma. Usually atoms can be imagined as a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and a surrounding "cloud" of orbiting electrons which "take up space".

Read more in the app

Scientists Discover Two Competing Memories in Matter

When it comes to fusion, materials matter - EurekAlert!

CERN Physicists Take New Look at Why Matter Beat Antimatter

Could Dark Matter Be Hiding in a Hidden Fifth Dimension?

What gets published? Sweeping analysis shows prestige, topic and location matter most - EurekAlert!

NASA is creating a fifth state of matter on the ISS, thanks to an upgrade to a mini-fridge-sized quantum lab: A new set of upgrades to the International Space Station’s Cold Atom Laboratory is allowing NASA to probe quantum mechanics at the coldest possible temperatures while in zero gravity

Light as a quantum playground: Reconfigurable simulators reveal hidden dynamics of matter - EurekAlert!

Fractional Fermi Sea: Physicists Discover a New Phase of Matter Beyond Established Theory

Physicists Create an Exotic New Form Of Matter: The 'Fermi Sea'

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab is creating one of the weirdest forms of matter in space

Hidden Phase of Matter Finally Captured After Decades of Predictions

Leaf traits drive herbivory across forests: Silicon and heat tolerance matter - EurekAlert!

Rice physicists advance optical means to retrieve matter’s quantum entanglement - EurekAlert!

This strange new phase of matter could transform quantum technology

Researchers create novel structural state of matter with exotic properties - EurekAlert!

Understanding extreme states of matter faster - EurekAlert!

This Magnetic Field Trick Creates Entirely New Forms of Matter

Scientists just created exotic new forms of matter that shouldn’t exist

An Unknown State of Matter Could Be Hiding in Our Solar System

A New "Quasi-1D" State of Matter Could Be Hiding Inside Ice Giant Planets