Classification of Matter

Paul Henry N. Parrotina

De La Salle University-Dasmarinas
Dasmarinas, Cavite Philipppines

Abstract

Matter is defined as anything that occupies space that has mass and volume. It can be classified into
pure substance and mixture. Mixture is defined as two or more substances that are physically
combined but not chemically combined (1). In other words, it can be separated through physical
methods such as filtration, distillation, etc. Unlike the pure substance, it can only be either an element
or compound. In the first part of the experiment, Iron filings and sulfur are identified by its different
properties such as physical state, color, appearance, attraction to magnet, solubility in water, and
classification. After identifying their properties, they were combined to see the difference it makes. On
the second part of the experiment, a mixture of Congo red, Sodium Chloride, and Sand were added
into the water and separated it through filtration to calculate the amount of solute (Sodium Chloride
and Sand) present. The mixture content was said to have 5.0 grams and 0.03 grams of sodium
chloride and sand, respectively.

Introduction
Matter can be seen everywhere because everything around us is made of matter. Matter is a
general term used to identify something we see. It can be classified as pure substance or mixture in
which pure substance can still be broken down into elements and compounds. Elements are the
simplest form of matter that are composed of single atom, while compounds are composed of two or
more atoms bonded together. In contrast, mixture can also be classified into homogeneous and
heterogeneous mixture. Homogeneous mixture is a mixture where the distribution of the components
are uniform and sale throughout, while heterogeneous mixture do not have uniform composition and it
can be easily identified by the visibility of the state of matter differences (2).

Methodology
In the first part of the experiment, two substances were compared to identify its properties,
namely: physical state, color, appearance, attraction to magnet, solubility in water, and classification.
After identifying their properties individually, they were combined together by pounding the iron filings
and mixing with sulfur to see the difference it makes. Then they were identified again and heated it
until the iron filings melted. Lastly, it was again observed and identified based on the properties they
inhibited.
For the second part of the experiment, a mixture of Congo red, Sodium Chloride, and Sand
where mixed with water. Then it was separated through gravity filtration set up. First, with the use of
filter paper to separate the Congo red residue for weighing after it dries. Then, an activated carbon
was added into the filtrate and was heated until it boiled. After it was boiled, it was again filtered using
filter paper to get the sodium chloride residue for weighing. Then it was heated again until it dries to
get the sand residue.

Result and Discussion

In Table 1, it summarizes how two substances were compared to identify its properties,
namely: physical state, color, appearance, attraction to magnet, solubility in water, and classification.
When the two were combined, some of their properties changed because of the combination of two
distinct properties. When heat was applied to the mixture of both substance, the appearance became
metallic all throughout because of the present of iron which is considered as metal.
Table 1. Iron Filings and Sulfur
Property

Iron Filings

Physical State (solid/liquid/gas)

Color
Appearance
(crystalline/metallic/powdery)
Attraction to magnet
(paramagnetic/diamagnetic)
Solubility in water
(soluble/insoluble)
Classification
(element/compound/mixture)

Sulfur

solid
Brownish
black
metallic

solid
yellowish

Iron Filings +
Sulfur
solid
Grayish yellow

Heated Iron
Filings + Sulfur
liquid
gray

powdery

powdery

Metallic

paramagnetic

paramagnetic

Paramagnetic

insoluble

diamagneti
c
insoluble

insoluble

insoluble

element

element

mixture

compound

In Table 2, it summarizes the data result of Sodium chloride after collecting it from the mixture
filtered .It is locally known as table salt or salt only. The collection of sodium chloride was successful
because it has a higher boiling point with 1413 C compared to water with 100 C. The amount of
sodium chloride collected was 5 grams and can be concluded that all of its content in the mixture were
all collected (3).
Table 2. Sodium Chloride
Sodium Chloride
Weight of beaker (g)
Weight of beaker + sodium chloride (g)
Weight of sodium chloride
% sodium chloride (%)

113.20
118.20
5.0
100.00

In table 3, it summarizes the data collected for Sand in the mixture through filtration. Sand are
finely grained rocks that weathered due to a strong force applied to it. Commonly, it can be seen on
the ocean floor, beaches, and dessert. On the experiment, about 0.03 grams or 0.60% were collected
on the mixture.

Sand
Weight of beaker (g)
Weight of beaker + sand (g)
Weight of sand
% sand (%)

113.20
113.23
0.03
0.60

Reference
(1) Blaber, M. (1996). Intro to Matter. Retrieved on 13 December 2015 from
http://www.mikeblaber.org/oldwine/chm1045/notes/Intro/Matter/Intro01.htm
(2) Estacio, S. M. (2015) What is Matter?. Retrieved on 13 December 2015 from
https://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/whatismatter.html
(3) Pubchem. 2015. Sodium Chloride. Retrieved on 13 December 2015 from
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/sodium_chloride#section=Top