What Properties Describe Matter You have probably heard the word matter used many times As a matter of fact or Hey what s the matter In science matter is anything that has mass and takes up space All the stuff around you is matter and you are matter too Air plastic metal wood glass paper and cloth are all matter Even though air and paper are both matter you know they are different materials Matter can have many different properties or characteristics that can be used to identify and classify it Materials can be hard or soft hot or cold liquid solid or gas Some materials catch fire easily but others do not burn Chemistry is the study of matter and how matter changes Substances Some types of matter are substances and some are not In chemistry a substance is a single kind of matter that is pure meaning it always has a specific makeup or composition For example table salt has the same composition and properties whether it comes from seawater or a salt mine Figure 1 shows two examples of water that appear to be very different Water is a substance Pure water is always the same whether it comes from a glacier or from a geyser FIGURE 1 Properties of Matter Compare and Contrast Complete the Venn diagram with the properties of water from a glacier and from a geyser Glacier nog stol Geyser Summarize How are matter and substances related GW