Articles

1. What types of matter are there?

ACCT Admin | Tue, 04/14/2020 - 18:53

1-what-types-matter-are-there.png

“What types of matter are there?” is a question of classification. Classification is a very important tool for predicting and explaining the properties of substances in our surroundings. For example, classifying a material as a metal versus a nonmetal allows us to predict that it may conduct heat and electricity quite well. Similarly, identifying a substance as an ionic compound allows us to explain why its aqueous solution conducts electricity. Classifications are often loose categories with gray areas, but they support chemical thinking when seeking to synthesize new substances, determine the identity of a material, or control a chemical process.

3. What properties of matter types emerge?

ACCT Admin | Tue, 04/14/2020 - 15:22

3-what-properties-matter-types-emerge.png

“What properties of matter types emerge?” is a question of the origin of properties. Predicting or explaining properties of substances often requires analysis of structural rather than compositional aspects of substances, and involves reasoning about emergence rather than arguing based on a central cause. Explaining behaviors of substances involves examining what influences energetic stability and how behaviors on one distance scale emerge from dynamic interactions between structural components on a smaller scale. There are many different scales at which these structure-property relationships are built (from multiple entities in mixtures down to electronic structure). This chemical thinking question is often central to predicting properties of substances, e.g., which oil is best for lubricating a transmission or frying plantains or making soap.