Abstract
The question of what everything around us is made from has fascinated humanity since ancient times. The development of ideas on what the building blocks of matter are, and how these building blocks come together to form materials, are discussed in this contribution. In order to manipulate matter in a useful way, an understanding of the structure of the building blocks is the key. For this reason, atomic theory and bonding theory are introduced. An explanation of the periodic table shows why it is such a powerful predictive tool, and the use of symbols in chemistry is discussed.Contribution: In this article, the historical development of key ideas in our understanding of matter is presented, along with some of the important ideas in understanding how matter behaves. As part of this special collection, the implications of the meaning and utilisation of this knowledge are also considered.
Highlights
The Universe, as far as we know, is made from only a few fundamental constituents: dark matter, dark energy, radiation and ordinary matter
We are concerned with ordinary matter, which makes up a tiny proportion of the Universe
The stars and planets are made from the same basic building blocks as you and I
Summary
The Universe, as far as we know, is made from only a few fundamental constituents: dark matter, dark energy, radiation and ordinary matter. Each type of element has its own type of atom, and in a chemical reaction, these atoms change the way they are connected to one another. The number and type of atoms do not change in a chemical reaction.
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