Properties of Materials
When we look around us, we see many beings of different shapes and colors. Everything we see around us is matter. Matter occupies a certain area and has its own characteristics.
We distinguish the properties of matter by our sense organs. For example, we perceive the color of lemon with our eyes, its smell with our nose, its taste with our tongue, and its softness with our skin. These features, which we can perceive with our five senses, are the features that characterize matter.
Hardness – Softness
Hard Materials
Solid materials that are difficult to scratch and break are called hard materials. Substances such as stone, marble, steel and nails are hard.
Metals are hard substances and are very difficult to shape by hand. If we cannot easily change the shape of a substance, it is a hard substance. Hard materials cannot be easily bent, squeezed, crushed or scratched. Items that should be sturdy are made of hard materials.
Soft Materials
Substances that can be easily deformed are soft substances. Materials such as cotton, play dough and fabric are soft. When a small force is applied to these materials, they can change shape very quickly. Some materials return to their original shape when the applied force is removed. This is related to the property of matter.
Flexibility
Materials that can change shape easily are flexible materials. We can bend, bend, stretch or compress many materials such as rubber and sponge. In this way, we can change the shape of matter. You cannot change the shape of materials such as iron, stone, and wood by squeezing them with your hand. Such materials are not flexible.
Fragility
Hard materials such as glass and porcelain do not have flexibility. It can break as a result of any impact. Such materials are fragile. The fragility of these materials may not be the same. Some can break quickly with a little force, while others require a lot of force to break.
Roughness – Smoothness
Rough Materials
Materials that have uneven surfaces when you touch them are rough. Examples: walnut shell, car tires, sponge, tree trunk.
Smooth Materials
Materials that have a smooth surface and feel sliding when you touch them are smooth. The surfaces of materials such as mirror, glass, paper are smooth.
Color
We can distinguish the colors in the rainbow, our crayons, and fruits by looking at their colors. There are also substances of the same color around us. Flour, salt, and sugar are white in color and we cannot separate them by color. Sometimes the same fruit can be of different colors. For example, there are apples of different colors.
Smell
Many materials have a distinctive odor. We can distinguish between materials by our sense of smell. Mint, rose, vanilla, cinnamon, onion, garlic, and many other materials are fragrant.
Taste
Chocolate is sweet, lemon is sour, and pepper is bitter. We know the salt of food by tasting it. Although the colors and shapes of materials such as sugar and salt are similar, their tastes are different.
