Matter is categorised into the following types:

What are substances?

●​ Substances are one or more components that make up matter. There

are pure and impure substances.

Pure Substances

●​ Pure substances consist of a single component, and all the

constituent particles are identical in their chemical nature.

Pure substances are of two kinds: elements and compounds.

Elements Compounds

●​ An element is a basic form of ●​ A substance containing two or

matter that cannot be broken more elements, chemically
down into simpler substances combined with one another in
by chemical reactions. a fixed proportion.

●​ The term element was first ●​ The constituents can only be

used by Robert Boyle in 1661. separated by chemical or
electrochemical reactions.
 ●​ Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, a ●​ The properties of the
French chemist, was the first compound formed are different
to establish the definition for from those of its elements. (As
an element. it is formed by a chemical
process.)

Elements are further divided into metals, non metals and metalloids.

Metals Non-metals

Lustrous elements that can be Non-metals are not lustrous, and

polished, and shine. have a dull appearance. (except for
Iodine)

Metals are generally silver-grey, or They are present in a variety of

golden-yellow in colour. colours.

They are excellent conductors of They are poor conductors of heat

heat and electricity. and electricity. (except for diamond -
heat, and graphite - electricity.)

They are ductile (Can be drawn into Non-metals are brittle, and unlike
wires) and malleable (Can be metals, they are not malleable or
hammered into thin sheets.) ductile.

They are sonorous, that is, they They do not have a sonorous quality.
make a ringing sound when struck.

At room temperature, metals are At room temperature, non-metals

generally solids except for mercury. may be solids, liquids, or gases.

Metals are durable and powerful. Non-metals are not durable.

Gold, silver, copper, iron, sodium, Hydrogen, oxygen, iodine, carbon,

potassium and magnesium are bromine, chlorine and sulphur are
metals. non-metals.

Metalloids are elements that have properties similar to both metals and
non-metals. Examples: Boron, silicon, germanium and arsenic are
metalloids.
Mixtures fall under impure substances.

Mixtures

●​ A mixture is a combination of two or more pure substances. It is not

chemically combined.

●​ Its constituents can be separated by physical processes.

Mixtures are of two kinds, homogenous and heterogenous mixtures.

Homogenous mixtures Heterogenous mixtures

●​ Substances are present in a ●​ Substances that have distinct

single phase, with no obvious separation boundaries, and
borders of separation and are are not uniformly distributed.
uniformly distributed.

●​ Uniform composition. ●​ Variable composition.

Homogenous mixtures are divided into solutions and alloys, while

heterogenous mixtures are divided into colloids and suspensions.

Solutions

●​ A solution is a homogenous mixture of two or more substances.

●​ The particles in a solution are evenly distributed. (As it is

homogenous)

●​ The particles of a solution are extremely small (below 1 nm) in

diameter, hence they cannot be seen with naked eyes.

●​ Due to the size of particles, a solution does not scatter light, and
hence the path of light is not visible in a solution.

●​ A solution has two parts, solute and solvent.

●​ A solution is stable, as the solute particles do not settle down.

●​ The solute and solvent cannot be separated through filtration.

●​ In a solution, the relative proportion of the solute and solvent can vary.

●​ Examples: Sugar solution (solid in liquid)​

Tincture of Iodine (solid in liquid)
 Aerated drinks (gas in liquid)

Solute Solvent

Substance that is dissolved in the Substance that dissolves the solute.

solvent.

It is lesser in quantity. It is larger in quantity.

Solubility is the amount of solute that may be dissolved in a solvent.

Solutions are of two kinds, saturated and unsaturated solutions.

Saturated Solutions Unsaturated Solutions

●​ A solution that has dissolved ●​ A solution that contains solute

the maximum amount of solute lower than the saturation level.
at a given temperature.

On cooling a saturated solution, some solute may crystallise as the

solution’s capacity to hold more solute decreases.

What is the concentration of a solution?​

●​ The concentration of a solution is the amount of solute present at a

given temperature in a solution.

●​ Based on the amount of solute, a solution can be called dilute,

concentrated or saturated. (Essentially, concentrated and saturated
mean the same.) For example, when CUSO4 is present in a lesser
quantity in a solution, it is called dilute. However, as its quantity
increases, the solution becomes concentrated or saturated.

Formulas:

●​ Mass by mass: Mass of solute/Mass of solvent x 100

●​ Mass by volume: Mass of the solute/Mass of the solvent x 100

●​ Volume by volume: Volume of the solute/Volume of the solvent x 100

Alloys also fall under homogenous mixtures.

Alloys

●​ Alloys are mixtures of two or more metals.

●​ They cannot be separated by physical methods.

●​ An alloy displays the property of its constituents, hence it is a mixture

and not a solution.

Under heterogenous mixtures are colloids and suspensions.

Suspensions Colloids

●​ Suspensions are ●​ Colloids are heterogeneous

heterogenous mixtures in mixtures in which small
which insoluble solids are particles are dispersed within a
dispersed in liquids. medium. They appear
homogenous due to the size of
their particles.

●​ The particles of a suspension ●​ The particles of a colloid are

are visible to the naked eye. not visible to the naked eye.

●​ The particles scatter light ●​ These particles can easily

passing through it, making its scatter light. This is called the
path visible. Tyndall Effect, after the name
of the scientist who discovered
it.

●​ The solid particles can be ●​ They cannot be separated

separated from the mixture by from the mixture by filtration,
filtration. centrifugation can be used to
●​ separate colloidal particles.

●​ A suspension is unstable, that ●​ A colloid is stable, as the

is, the solute particles settle particles do not settle down
down when the suspension is when the mixture is left
left undisturbed. In this case, it undisturbed.
no longer scatters light.
A colloid has two phases:

Dispersed Phase Dispersed Medium

The solute-like components form the The component in which the

dispersed phase in a colloid. dispersed phase is suspended is
called the dispersed medium.

Dispersed Dispersed Type of colloid Examples

Phase (solvent) Medium (solute)

Liquid Gas Aerosol Fog, clouds, mist

Solid Gas Aerosol Smoke,

automobile
exhaust

Liquid Liquid Emulsion Milk, face cream

Gas Liquid Foam Shaving cream

Solid Liquid Solution Milk of Magnesia,

mud

Gas Solid Foam Foam, rubber,

sponge, pumice

Liquid Solid Gel Jelly, cheese,

butter

Solid Solid Solid Solution Coloured

gemstone, milky
glass

Tyndall effect is the phenomenon in which particles of a colloid scatter a

beam of light. Examples:​

●​ Light scatters off dust and smoke particles when a beam of light
enters a room through a small hole.

●​ Sunlight passing through dense forest canopies, where mist

droplets act as colloidal particles dispersed in air.
Physical and Chemical changes:​

Physical Changes Chemical changes

●​ Physical changes do not ●​ Chemical changes bring a

change the composition and change to the chemical
chemical nature of a composition of matter and
substance. result in the formation of a new
substance.

●​ Examples: the interconversion ●​ Examples: Combustion of wax

of states, Ice, water vapour into CO2 and energy when
and water, and the melting of wax burns in a lit candle.
wax.