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matter

 
Dictionary: mat·ter   (măt'ər) pronunciation
 
n.
    1. Something that occupies space and can be perceived by one or more senses; a physical body, a physical substance, or the universe as a whole.
    2. Physics. Something that has mass and exists as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma.
  1. A specific type of substance: inorganic matter.
  2. Discharge or waste, such as pus or feces, from a living organism.
  3. Philosophy. In Aristotelian and Scholastic use, that which is in itself undifferentiated and formless and which, as the subject of change and development, receives form and becomes substance.
  4. The substance of thought or expression as opposed to the manner in which it is stated or conveyed.
  5. A subject of concern, feeling, or action: matters of foreign policy; a personal matter. See synonyms at subject.
  6. Trouble or difficulty: What's the matter with your car?
  7. An approximated quantity, amount, or extent: The construction will last a matter of years.
  8. Something printed or otherwise set down in writing: reading matter.
  9. Something sent by mail.
  10. Printing.
    1. Composed type.
    2. Material to be set in type.
intr.v., -tered, -ter·ing, -ters.

To be of importance: “Love is most nearly itself/When here and now cease to matter” (T.S. Eliot). See synonyms at count1.

idioms:

as a matter of fact

  1. In fact; actually.
for that matter
  1. So far as that is concerned; as for that.
no matter
  1. Regardless of: “Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,/No matter where it's going” (Edna St. Vincent Millay).

[Middle English, from Old French matere, from Latin māteria, wood, timber, matter, from māter, mother (because the woody part was seen as the source of growth).]


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A term that traditionally refers to the substance of which all bodiesR consist. Matter in classical mechanics is closely identified with mass. Modern analyses distinguish two types of mass: inertial mass, by which matter retains its state of rest or uniform rectilinear motion in the absence of external forces; and gravitational mass, by which a body exerts forces of attraction on other bodies, and by which it reacts to those forces. Expressed in appropriate units, these two properties are numerically equal—a purely experimental fact, unexplained by theory. Albert Einstein made the equality of inertial and gravitational mass a fundamental principle (principle of equivalence), as one of the two postulates of the theory of general relativity. See also Gravitation; Inertia; Mass; Relativity; Weight.

In quantum mechanics, mass is only one among many properties (quantum numbers) that a particle can have, for example, electric charge, spin, and parity. The nearest quantum-mechanical analogs of traditional matter are fermions, having half-integral values of spin. Forces are mediated by exchange of bosons, particles having integral spins. Fermions correspond to classical matter in exhibiting impenetrability (a consequence of the exclusion principle), but the correspondence is only rough. For example, fermions can also be exchanged in interactions (a photon and an electron can exchange an electron), and they also exhibit wavelike (nonlocalized) behavior. States of classical matter-particles were given by their positions and momenta, but in quantum mechanics it is impossible to assign simultaneous precise positions and momenta to particles. See also Exclusion principle; Quantum electrodynamics; Quantum mechanics; Quantum statistics.

The primary constituents of ordinary matter are baryonic, consisting of quarks. However it is possible that as much as 99% (by mass) of the matter in the universe consists of nonbaryonic “dark matter” whose nature is yet to be discovered. See also Baryon; Big bang theory; Cosmology; Inflationary universe cosmology; Quarks; Universe.


 
Thesaurus: matter
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noun

  1. That which occupies space and can be perceived by the senses: materiality, substance. See body/spirit.
  2. That from which things are or can be made: material, stuff, substance. Idioms: grist for one's mill. See matter.
  3. What a speech, piece of writing, or artistic work is about: argument, point, subject, subject matter, text, theme, topic. See meaning.
  4. Something to be done, considered, or dealt with: affair, business, thing. See thing.

verb

    To be of significance or importance: count, import, signify, weigh. See important/unimportant.

 
Antonyms: matter
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n

Definition: significance, meaning
Antonyms: insignificance, meaninglessness

n

Definition: substance
Antonyms: nothing, nothingness, zero


 

Material substance that constitutes the observable universe and, together with energy, forms the basis of all objective phenomena. Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. Every physical entity can be described, physically and mathematically, in terms of interrelated quantities of mass, inertia, and gravitation. Matter in bulk occurs in several states; the most familiar are the gaseous (see gas), liquid, and solid states (plasmas, glasses, and various others are less clearly defined), each with characteristic properties. According to Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, matter and energy are equivalent and interconvertible (see conservation law).

For more information on matter, visit Britannica.com.

 

That which occupies space, possessing size and shape, mass, movability, and solidity (which may be the same as impenetrability). Its nature was historically one of the great subjects of philosophy, now largely pursued through the philosophy of physics. Plato and Aristotle passed on a classification of matter into four kinds (earth, air, water, and fire) but also the view (not necessarily held by Aristotle himself) that any such division reflected a different form taken by one prime, undifferentiated matter or hylē (see materia prima). In Aristotle there is also a fifth kind of matter (quintessence) found in the celestial world, whose possessors were thereby exempt from change. This physics was replaced from the 17th century onwards by the classical conception first of corpuscles (see corpuscularianism) and then of modern atoms. In modern physics, the tidy picture of inert massy atoms on the one hand, and forces between them on the other, has entirely given way. The quantum mechanical description of fundamental particles blurs the distinction between matter and its energy, and between particles and the forces that describe their interaction. Philosophically, however, quantum mechanics leaves considerable unease of its own.

 
matter, anything that has mass and occupies space. Matter is sometimes called koinomatter (Gr. koinos=common) to distinguish it from antimatter, or matter composed of antiparticles.

The Properties of Matter

The general properties of matter result from its relationship with mass and space. Because of its mass, all matter has inertia (the mass being the measure of its inertia) and weight, if it is in a gravitational field (see gravitation). Because it occupies space, all matter has volume and impenetrability, since two objects cannot occupy the same space simultaneously.

The special properties of matter, on the other hand, depend on internal structure and thus differ from one form of matter, i.e., one substance, to another. Such properties include ductility, elasticity, hardness, malleability, porosity (ability to permit another substance to flow through it), and tenacity (resistance to being pulled apart).

The States of Matter

Matter is ordinarily observed in three different states, or phases (see states of matter), although scientists distinguish three additional states. Matter in the solid state has both a definite volume and a definite shape; matter in the liquid state has a definite volume but no definite shape, assuming the shape of whatever container it is placed in; matter in the gaseous state has neither a definite volume nor a definite shape and expands to fill any container. The properties of a plasma, or extremely hot, ionized gas, are sufficiently different from those of a gas at ordinary temperatures for scientists to consider them to be the fourth state of matter. So too are the properties of the Bose-Einstein and fermionic condensates, which exist only at temperatures approximating absolute zero (−273.15°C), and they are considered the fifth and sixth states of matter respectively.

Early Theories of Matter

In ancient times various theories were suggested about the nature of matter. Empedocles held that all matter is made up of four “elements”—earth, air, fire, and water. Leucippus and his pupil Democritus proposed an atomic basis of matter, believing that all matter is built up from tiny particles differing in size and shape. Anaxagoras, however, rejected any theory in which matter is viewed as composed of smaller constituents, whether atoms or elements, and held instead that matter is continuous throughout, being entirely of a single substance.

Modern Theory of Matter

The modern theory of matter dates from the work of John Dalton at the beginning of the 19th cent. The atom is considered the basic unit of any element, and atoms may combine chemically to form molecules, the molecule being the smallest unit of any substance that possesses the properties of that substance. An element in modern theory is any substance all of whose atoms are the same (i.e., have the same atomic number), while a compound is composed of different types of atoms together in molecules.

Physical and Chemical Changes

The difference between a mixture and a compound helps to illustrate the difference between a physical change and a chemical change. Different atoms may also be present together in a mixture, but in a mixture they are not bound together chemically as they are in a compound. In a physical change, such as a change of state (e.g., from solid to liquid), the substance as a whole changes, but its underlying structure remains the same; water is still composed of molecules containing two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom whether it is in the form of ice, liquid water, or steam. In a chemical change, however, the substance participates in a chemical reaction, with a consequent reordering of its atoms. As a result, it becomes a different substance with a different set of properties.

Many of the physical properties and much of the behavior of matter can be understood without detailed assumptions about the structure of atoms and molecules. For example, the kinetic-molecular theory of gases provides a good explanation of the nature of temperature and the basis of the various gas laws and also gives insight into the different states of matter. Substances in different states vary in the strength of the forces between their molecules, with intermolecular forces being strongest in solids and weakest in gases. The force holding like molecules together is called cohesion, while that between unlike molecules is called adhesion (see adhesion and cohesion). Among the phenomena resulting from intermolecular forces are surface tension and capillarity. An even larger number of aspects of matter can be understood when the nature and structure of the atom are taken into account. The quantum theory has provided the key to understanding the atom, and most basic problems relating to the atom have been solved.

The Relationship of Matter and Energy

The atomic theory of matter does not answer the question of the basic nature of matter. It is now known that matter and energy are intimately related. According to the law of mass-energy equivalence, developed by Albert Einstein as part of his theory of relativity, a quantity of matter of mass m possesses an intrinsic rest mass energy E given by E = mc2, where c is the speed of light. This equivalence is dramatically demonstrated in the phenomena of nuclear fission and fusion (see nuclear energy; nucleus), in which a small amount of matter is converted to a rather large amount of energy. The converse reaction, the conversion of energy to matter, has been observed frequently in the creation of many new elementary particles. The study of elementary particles has not solved the question of the nature of matter but only shifted it to a smaller scale.

Bibliography

See V. H. Booth, Elements of Physical Science: The Nature of Matter and Energy (1970); G. Amaldi, The Nature of Matter: Physical Theory from Thales to Fermi (1982).


 
Law Dictionary: Matter
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The substantial facts upon which a claim or defense is based, 101 So. 2d 408, 410; the subject of litigation, upon which issue is brought before the court and joined. 368 F. 2d 648, 654.

 
Science Dictionary: matter
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In physics, something that has mass and is distinct from energy. (See phases of matter.)

 
World of the Mind: matter
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The distinction between mind and matter is as old as philosophy and as controversial. Both are ultimately mysterious. On the view known as dualism (developed by Descartes), matter has spatial extension and non-mental properties such as divisibility, while mind is not extended in space and does not obey the laws of physics. According to the idealism of Berkeley, the notion of matter existing independently of mind is incoherent. As physics has advanced, its accounts of matter have grown even further from the 'common-sense' knowledge given by perception. This has given rise to 'two worlds' of physical reality and perceived experience. With this development matter seems to be more and more different from mind, whereas in mythology and early science mind and matter are hardly separated, and matter is seen as alive and intelligent. See also mind and body.

(Published 1987)

 

1. physical material having form and weight under ordinary conditions of gravity.
2. pus.

  • gray m. — matter of the central nervous system, which represents the aggregations of the nerve cells.
  • white m. — matter of the central nervous system, which comprises the axons of the nerve cells.
 
Word Tutor: matter
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: That which has mass and occupies space.

pronunciation The foundations of a person are not in matter but in spirit. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American transcendentalist philosopher, essayist and lecturer.

 
Wikipedia: Matter
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This article is about the concept in astronomy, physics and chemistry. For other uses, see Matter (disambiguation).

The term matter traditionally refers to the substance that objects are made of.[1] One common way to identify this "substance" is through its properties: for example, matter is anything that has both mass and volume.[2]

A more general view is that bodies are made of several substances, and the properties of matter (among them, mass and volume) are determined not only by the substances themselves, but by how they interact. In other words, matter is made up of interacting "building blocks",[3][4] the so-called particulate theory of matter.[5]

Underlying the notion of matter are some age-old, seemingly simple questions: "What happens when a substance is cut in half over and over again? Is there a limit to how small a piece of substance you can have?"[6] "When the pieces of substance are small enough, is there only a small number of different building blocks from which any substance is made?"[7]

Our growing understanding of matter can be seen as an evolution in just what the basic building blocks are, and in how they interact. For example, for Isaac Newton in the early 18th century, matter was formed "in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles", which were "even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces"[8] The primary or "real" qualities of matter were amenable to mathematical description (a kind of "billiard ball" model), unlike secondary qualities such as color or taste.[8] In the 19th century, matter was what is made up of atoms, at that time thought of as irreducible constituents of matter interacting to form molecules.[9] Subsequently, matter was seen as made up of electrons, protons and neutrons interacting to form atoms. Today we know even protons and neutrons are not indivisible, but the particulate theory still applies. Just the "building blocks" have changed; matter is constructed of more microscopic building blocks, namely quarks and leptons interacting to form (among other things) nucleons.[10]

During this evolution of the building blocks over time, each generation has encompassed its predecessor, and so engenders the same properties of matter explored in the earlier epoch. However, the evolution of building blocks has followed probes of the properties of matter to smaller and smaller scales of length, and to higher and higher energies and densities; the new building blocks predict properties in regimes not previously accessible in the days of the earlier building blocks. The change in building blocks means that although matter still may be made up of atoms and molecules (because they are made from leptons and quarks), matter is more general than this, and can be made up of assemblies of leptons and quarks that are not atoms or molecules, such as a quark-gluon plasma, the form of matter believed to have existed in the first few microseconds of the "big bang", and to exist in neutron stars.[11]

The quark-lepton building blocks interact through a number of fundamental forces, and are described by the Standard Model of particle physics (gravity so far included only classically; see quantum gravity and graviton).[12] Interactions are mediated by field quanta or force carriers, of which the W-boson and the photon are examples.[13] The interactions are not themselves building blocks, and consequently neither are their quanta. As one consequence, energy cannot always be related to matter: for example, photons possess energy (see Planck relation); however, photons commonly are distinguished from matter.[14] Also, mass cannot always be related to matter: certain particles are massive, such as the W-boson, but are not matter. Although the field quanta by themselves are not matter, in conjunction with a complex of building blocks like an atom or a hadron, they contribute to the invariant mass of the combination, for example, through a binding energy. [15][16]

Matter is commonly said to exist in four states (or phases): solid, liquid, gas and plasma. However, advances in experimental technique have realized other phases, previously only theoretical constructs, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads to new phases of matter, such as the quark-gluon plasma.[17]

In physics and chemistry, matter and energy exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties, the so-called wave-particle duality or matter wave. In this connection, physicists speak of matter fields, and speak of particles as "quantum excitations of a mode of the matter field".[18][19][20]

In the realm of cosmology, extensions of the term matter are invoked to include dark matter and dark energy, concepts introduced to explain some odd phenomena of the observable universe, such as the galactic rotation curve. These exotic forms of "matter" are not formed of the same building blocks that make up ordinary matter.[21]

Contents

Definitions

Common definition

The DNA molecule is an example of matter under the "atoms and molecules" definition. Hydrogen bonds are shown as dotted lines.

The common definition of matter is anything that has both mass and volume (occupies space).[22][23] For example, a car would be said to be made of matter, as it occupies space, and has mass.

The observation that matter occupies space goes back to antiquity. However, an explanation for why matter occupies space is recent, and is argued to be a result of the Pauli exclusion principle.[24][25] Two particular examples where the exclusion principle clearly relates matter to the occupation of space are white dwarf stars and neutron stars, discussed further below.

Amount of substance

The international standards organization Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) uses the terminology "amount of substance", rather than "matter". To quote the SI brochure:[26]

"Amount of substance is defined to be proportional to the number of specified elementary entities in a sample, the proportionality constant being a universal constant which is the same for all samples. The unit of amount of substance is called the mole, symbol mol, and the mole is defined by specifying the mass of carbon 12 that constitutes one mole of carbon 12 atoms. By international agreement this was fixed at 0.012 kg, i.e. 12 g.

  • 1. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12; its symbol is "mol".
  • 2. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles."

Atoms and molecules definition

A definition of "matter" that is based upon its physical and chemical structure is: matter is made up of atoms and molecules. This definition is consistent with the BIPM definition of "amount of substance" above, but is more specific about the constituents of matter (and unconcerned about the unit mole). Further discussion appears below in the discussion section and in the description of the quarks and leptons definition. As an example of matter under this definition, genetic information is carried by a long molecule called DNA, which is copied and inherited across generations. It is matter under this definition because it is made of atoms, not by virtue of having mass or occupying space. This definition can be extended to include charged atoms and molecules, so as to include plasmas (gases of ions) and electrolytes (ionic solutions), which are not obviously included in the atoms and molecules definition. Alternatively, one can adopt the protons, neutrons and electrons definition below.

Protons, neutrons and electrons definition

A definition of "matter" more fine-scale than the atoms and molecules definition is: matter is made up of what atoms and molecules are made of, meaning anything made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.[27] This definition goes beyond atoms and molecules, however, to include substances made from these building blocks that are not simply atoms or molecules, for example white dwarf matter — typically, carbon and oxygen nuclei in a sea of degenerate electrons. At a microscopic level, the constituent "particles" of matter such as protons, neutrons and electrons obey the laws of quantum mechanics and exhibit wave-particle duality. At an even deeper level, protons and neutrons are made up of quarks and the force fields (gluons) that bind them together (see Quarks and leptons definition below).

Quarks and leptons definition

Under the "quarks and leptons" definition, the elementary and composite particles made of the quarks (in purple) and leptons (in green) would be "matter"; while the gauge bosons (in blue) would not be "matter". However, interaction energy inherent to composite particles (for example, gluons involved in neutrons and protons) contribute to the mass of ordinary matter.

As may be seen from the above discussion, many early definitions of what can be called ordinary matter were based upon its structure or "building blocks". On the scale of elementary particles, a definition that follows this tradition can be stated as: ordinary matter is everything that is composed of elementary fermions, namely quarks and leptons.[28][29] The connection between these formulations follows.

Leptons (the most famous being the electron), and quarks (of which baryons, such as protons and neutrons, are made) combine to form atoms, which in turn form molecules. Because atoms and molecules are said to be matter, it is natural to phrase the definition as: ordinary matter is anything that is made of the same things that atoms and molecules are made of. (However, notice that one also can make from these building blocks matter that is not atoms or molecules.) Then, because electrons are leptons, and protons and neutrons are made of quarks, this definition in turn leads to the definition of matter as being "quarks and leptons", which are the two types of elementary fermions. Carithers and Grannis state: Ordinary matter is composed entirely of first-generation particles, namely the u [up] and d [down] quarks, plus the electron and its neutrino.[30] (By "first-generation" is meant the stable quarks and leptons. Higher "generations" decay into "first-generation" particles.[31])

This definition of ordinary matter is more subtle than it first appears. There are two groups of particles. All the particles that make up matter, such as electrons, protons and neutrinos, are fermions. All the force carriers are bosons.[32] See the tabulation in the figure. The W and Z bosons that mediate the weak force are not made of quarks and leptons, and so are not ordinary matter, but do have mass.[33] In other words, mass is not something that is exclusive to ordinary matter.

The quark-lepton definition of ordinary matter, however, identifies not only the elementary building blocks of matter, but also includes composites made from the constituents (atoms and molecules, for example). Such composites contain an interaction energy that holds the constituents together, and may constitute the bulk of the mass of the composite. As an example, to a great extent, the mass of an atom is simply the sum of the masses of its constituent protons, neutrons and electrons. However, digging deeper, the protons and neutrons are made up of quarks bound together by gluon fields (see QCD).[34] Basically, much of the mass of hadrons is the interaction energy of bound quarks. Thus, most of what composes the "mass" of ordinary matter is interquark interaction energy.[35] For example, "the gluonic forces binding three quarks (total mass 12.5 MeV) to make a nucleon contribute most of its mass of 938 MeV".[31][36] In a similar vein, the quark gluon plasma is considered to be a state of matter, and obviously includes the gluons. The bottom line here is: in a complex such as an atom or a hadron, the matter in the complex is generally not the most significant source of the mass belonging to the complex.

Smaller building blocks?

“In the past, the search for building blocks of matter has led us to more and more 'elementary' entities – from the molecule to the atom, to the nucleus and electrons, to the nucleons, and eventually to the quarks. Have we completed this 'onion peeling' process ... ?”[37] The Standard Model groups matter particles into three generations, where each generation consists of two quarks and two leptons. The first generation is the up and down quarks, the electron and the electron neutrino; the second includes the charm and strange quarks, the muon and the muon neutrino; the third generation consists of the top and bottom quarks and the tau and tau neutrino. [38] “... the most natural explanation to the existence of higher generations of quarks and leptons is that they correspond to excited states of the first generation, and experience suggests that excited systems must be composite.”[37]

Discussion and background

The common definition in terms of occupying space and having mass is in contrast with most physical and chemical definitions of matter, which rely instead upon its structure and upon attributes not necessarily related to volume and mass. James Clerk Maxwell discussed matter in his work Matter and Motion.[39] He carefully separates "matter" from space and time, and defines it in terms of the object referred to in Newton's first law of motion. In the 19th century, the term "matter" was actively discussed by a host of scientists and philosophers, and a brief outline can be found in Levere.[40] A textbook discussion from 1870 suggests matter is what is made up of atoms:[41]

Three divisions of matter are recognized in science: masses, molecules and atoms.
A Mass of matter is any portion of matter appreciable by the senses.
A Molecule is the smallest particle of matter into which a body can be divided without losing its identity.
An Atom is a still smaller particle produced by division of a molecule.

Rather than simply having the attributes of mass and occupying space, matter was held to have chemical and electrical properties. The famous physicist J. J. Thomson wrote about the "constitution of matter" and was concerned with the possible connection between matter and electrical charge.[42] There is an entire literature concerning the "structure of matter", ranging from the "electrical structure" in the early 20th century,[43] to the more recent "quark structure of matter", introduced today with the remark: Understanding the quark structure of matter has been one of the most important advances in contemporary physics.[44] In this connection, physicists speak of matter fields, and speak of particles as "quantum excitations of a mode of the matter field".[18][19] And here is a quote from De Sabbata and Gasperini: "With the word "matter" we denote, in this context, the sources of the interactions, that is spinor fields (like quarks and leptons), which are believed to be the fundamental components of matter, or scalar fields, like the Higgs particles, which are used to introduced mass in a gauge theory (and which, however, could be composed of more fundamental fermion fields)."[45]

The term "matter" is used throughout physics in a bewildering variety of contexts: for example, one refers to "condensed matter physics",[46] "elementary matter",[47] "partonic" matter, "dark" matter, "anti"-matter, "strange" matter, and "nuclear" matter. In discussions of matter and antimatter, normal matter has been referred to by Alfvén as koinomatter.[48] It is fair to say that in physics, there is no broad consensus as to an exact definition of matter, and the term "matter" usually is used in conjunction with some modifier.

Phases of ordinary matter

A solid metal cup containing liquid nitrogen slowly evaporating into gaseous nitrogen. Evaporation is the phase transition from a liquid state to a gas state.
Phase diagram for a typical substance at a fixed volume. Vertical axis is Pressure, horizontal axis is Temperature. The green line marks the freezing point (above the green line is solid, below it is liquid) and the blue line the boiling point (above it is liquid and below it is gas). So, for example, at higher T, a higher P is necessary to maintain the substance in liquid phase. At the triple point the three phases; liquid, gas and solid; can coexist. Above the critical point there is no detectable difference between the phases. The dotted line shows the anomalous behavior of water: ice melts at constant temperature with increasing pressure.[49]

In bulk, matter can exist in several different forms, or states of aggregation, known as phases,[50] depending on ambient pressure, temperature and volume.[51] A phase is a form of matter that has a relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (such as density, specific heat, refractive index, and so forth). These phases include the three familiar ones (solids, liquids, and gases), as well as more exotic states of matter ( such as plasmas, superfluids, supersolids, Bose-Einstein condensates, ...). A fluid may be a liquid, gas or plasma. There are also paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of magnetic materials. As conditions change, matter may change from one phase into another. These phenomena are called phase transitions, and are studied in the field of thermodynamics. In nanomaterials, the vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume results in matter that can exhibit properties entirely different from those of bulk material, and not well described by any bulk phase (see nanomaterials for more details).

Phases are sometimes called states of matter, but this term can lead to confusion with thermodynamic states. For example, two gases maintained at different pressures are in different thermodynamic states (different pressures), but in the same phase (both are solids).

Solid

Solids are characterized by a tendency to retain their structural integrity; if left on their own, they will not spread in the same way gas or liquids would. Many solids, like rocks and concrete, have very high hardness and rigidity and will tend to break or shatter when subject to various forms of stress, but others like steel and paper are more flexible and will bend. Solids are often composed of crystals, glasses, or long chain molecules (e.g. rubber and paper). Some solids are amorphous such as glass. A common example of a solid is the solid form of water, ice.

Liquid

In a liquid, the constituents frequently are touching, but able to move around each other. So unlike a gas, it has cohesion and viscosity. Compared to a solid, the forces holding constituents together are weaker, and it is not rigid, but adapts a shape decided by its container. Liquids are hard to compress. A common example is water.

Gas

A gas is a state of aggregation without cohesion; a vapor. Thus a gas has no resistance to changing shape (beyond the inertia of its constituents, which have to be knocked aside). The distance between constituent particles is flexible, determined, for example, by the size of a container and the number of particles, not by internal forces. A common example is the vapor form of water, steam.

Plasma

Plasma is a fourth state of matter consisting of an overall charge-neutral mix of electrons, ions and neutral atoms.[52] The plasma exhibits behavior peculiar to long range Coulomb forces in which the particles move in electromagnetic fields generated by and self-consistent with their own motions. The sun and stars are plasmas, as is the Earth's ionosphere, and plasmas occur in neon signs. Plasmas of deuterium and tritium ions are used in fusion reactions.[53] The term plasma was applied for the first time by Tonks and Langmuir in 1929, to the inner regions of a glowing ionized gas produced by electric discharge in a tube.[54]

Bose–Einstein condensate

This state of matter was first discovered by Satyendra Nath Bose, who sent his work on statistics of photons to Albert Einstein for comment. Following publication of Bose's paper, Einstein extended his treatment to massive particles fixed in number, and predicted this fifth state of matter in 1925. Bose–Einstein condensates were first realized experimentally by several different scientific groups in 1995 for rubidium, sodium, and lithium, using a combination of laser and evaporative cooling.[55] Bose–Einstein condensation for atomic hydrogen was achieved in 1998.[56]

The Bose–Einstein condensate is a liquid-like superfluid that occurs in at low temperatures in which all atoms occupy the same quantum state. In low-density systems, it occurs at or below 10−5 K.[56]

Fermionic condensate

A fermonic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low temperatures. It is closely related to the Bose-Einstein condensate under similar conditions. Unlike the Bose-Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using fermions instead of bosons. The earliest recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a superconductor; the physics of other examples including recent work with fermionic atoms is analogous. The first atomic fermionic condensate was created by Deborah S. Jin in 2003.[57] These atomic fermionic condensates are studied at temperatures in the vicinity of 50-350 nK.[58]

A hypothetical fermionic condensate that appears in theories of massless fermions with chiral symmetry breaking is the chiral condensate or the quark condensate.[59]

A model of a neutron star's internal structure. (Other models exist.[60]) At a depth of about 10 km the core becomes a superfluid liquid primarily of neutrons. The section at the left shows density vs. radius. Data from Luminet et al.[61]

Core of a neutron star

Because of its extreme density, the core of a neutron star falls under no other state of matter. While a white dwarf is about as massive as the sun (up to 1.4 solar masses, the Chandrasekhar limit), the Pauli exclusion principle prevents its collapse to smaller radius, and it becomes an example of degenerate matter. In contrast, neutron stars are between 1.5 and 3 solar masses, and achieve such density that the protons and electrons are crushed to become neutrons. Neutrons are fermions, so further collapse is prevented by the exclusion principle, forming so-called neutron degenerate matter.[62][63]

Phases of nuclear matter; Compare with Siemens & Jensen.[64]
Relativistic gold ions collide to make a hadronic fireball; frame from animation by Brookhaven National Laboratory

Quark-gluon plasma

Gluons are elementary particles that cause quarks to interact, and are indirectly responsible for the binding of protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei. The quark-gluon plasma is a hypothetical phase of matter, a phase of matter as yet not observed, supposed to exist in the early universe and to have evolved into a hadronic-gas phase.[65] At extremely high energy the strong force is anticipated to become so weak that the atomic nuclei break down into a bunch of loose quarks, which distinguishes the quark-gluon phase from normal plasma. In collisions of relativistic heavy ions, a phase transition occurs from the nuclear, hadronic phase to a matter phase consisting of quarks and gluons. So far, experimental results have shown that instead of a weakly interacting plasma, an almost ideal liquid is produced.[17][66] An animation is found at Gold ion collision @ RHIC.

Structure of ordinary matter

In particle physics, fermions are particles which obey Fermi–Dirac statistics. Fermions can be elementary, like the electron, or composite, like the proton and the neutron. In the Standard Model there are two types of elementary fermions: quarks and leptons, which are discussed next.

Quarks

Quarks are a particles of spin-12, implying that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −13 e (down-type quarks) or +23 e (up-type quarks). For comparison, an electron has a charge of −1 e. They also carry colour charge, which is the equivalent of the electric charge for the strong interaction. Quarks also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Quarks are massive particles, and therefore are also subject to gravity.

Quark properties[67]
Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e)
Mass
(MeV/c2)
Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Up-type quarks
Up u 12 +23 1.5 to 3.3 ~ 5 electrons Antiup u
Charm c 12 +23 1160 to 1340 ~ 1 proton Anticharm c
Top t 12 +23 169,100 to 173,300 ~ 180 protons or
~ 1 tungsten atom
Antitop t
Down-type quarks
Down d 12 13 3.5 to 6.0 ~ 10 electrons Antidown d
Strange s 12 13 70 to 130 ~ 200 electrons Antistrange s
Bottom b 12 13 4130 to 4370 ~ 5 protons Antibottom b
Quark structure of a proton: 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.

Baryonic matter

Baryons are strongly interacting fermions, and so are subject to Fermi-Dirac statistics. Amongst the baryons are the protons and neutrons, which occur in atomic nuclei, but many other unstable baryons exist as well. The term baryon is usually used to refer to triquarks — particles made of three quarks. "Exotic" baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark are known as the pentaquarks, but their existence is not generally accepted.

Baryonic matter is the part of the universe that is made of baryons (including all atoms). This part of the universe does not include dark energy, dark matter, black holes or various forms of degenerate matter, such as compose white dwarf stars and neutron stars. Microwave light seen by Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), suggests that only about 4.6% of that part of the universe within range of the best telescopes (that is, matter that may be visible because light could reach us from it), is made of baryionic matter. About 23% is dark matter, and about 72% is dark energy.[68]

A comparison between the white dwarf IK Pegasi B (center), its A-class companion IK Pegasi A (left) and the Sun (right). This white dwarf has a surface temperature of 35,500 K.

Degenerate matter

In physics, degenerate matter refers to the ground state of a gas of fermions at a temperature near absolute zero.[69] The Pauli exclusion principle requires that only two fermions can occupy a quantum state, one spin-up and the other spin-down. Hence, at zero temperature, the fermions fill up sufficient levels to accommodate all the available fermions, and for the case of many fermions the maximum kinetic energy called the Fermi energy and the pressure of the gas becomes very large and dependent upon the number of fermions rather than the temperature, unlike normal states of matter.

Degenerate matter is thought to occur during the evolution of heavy stars.[70] The demonstration by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar that white dwarf stars have a maximum allowed mass because of the exclusion principle caused a revolution in the theory of star evolution.[71]

Degenerate matter includes the part of the universe that is made up of neutron stars and white dwarfs.

Strange matter

Strange matter is a particular form of quark matter, usually thought of as a 'liquid' of up, down, and strange quarks. It is to be contrasted with nuclear matter, which is a liquid of neutrons and protons (which themselves are built out of up and down quarks), and with non-strange quark matter, which is a quark liquid containing only up and down quarks. At high enough density, strange matter is expected to be color superconducting. Strange matter is hypothesized to occur in the core of neutron stars, or, more speculatively, as isolated droplets that may vary in size from femtometers (strangelets) to kilometers (quark stars).

Two meanings of the term "strange matter"

In particle physics and astrophysics, the term is used in two ways, one broader and the other more specific.

  1. The broader meaning is just quark matter that contains three flavors of quarks: up, down, and strange. In this definition, there is a critical pressure and an associated critical density, and when nuclear matter (made of protons and neutrons) is compressed beyond this density, the protons and neutrons dissociate into quarks, yielding quark matter (probably strange matter).
  2. The narrower meaning is quark matter that is more stable than nuclear matter. The idea that this could happen is the "strange matter hypothesis" of Bodmer [72] and Witten [73]. In this definition, the critical pressure is zero: the true ground state of matter is always quark matter. The nuclei that we see in the matter around us, which are droplets of nuclear matter, are actually metastable, and given enough time (or the right external stimulus) would decay into droplets of strange matter, i.e. strangelets.

Leptons

Leptons are a particles of spin-12, meaning that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −1 e (electron-like leptons) or 0 e (neutrinos). Unlike quarks, leptons do not carry colour charge, meaning that they do not experience the strong interaction. Leptons also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Leptons are massive particles, therefore are subject to gravity.

Lepton properties
Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e)
Mass
(MeV/c2)
Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Charged leptons[74]
Electron e 12 −1 0.5110 1 electron Antielectron
(positron)
e+
Muon μ 12 −1 105.7 ~ 200 electrons Antimuon μ+
Tauon τ 12 −1 1,777 ~ 2 protons Antitauon τ+
Neutrinos[75]
Electron neutrino νe 12 0 < 0.000460 Less than a thousandth of an electron Electron antineutrino νe
Muon neutrino νμ 12 0 < 0.19 Less than half of an electron Muon antineutrino νμ
Tauon neutrino
(or tau neutrino)
ντ 12 0 < 18.2 Less than ~ 40 electrons Tauon antineutrino
(or tau antineutrino)
ντ

Antimatter

Unsolved problems in physics: Baryon asymmetry. Why is there far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe?

In particle physics and quantum chemistry, antimatter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that constitute ordinary matter. If a particle and its antiparticle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate; that is, they may both be converted into other particles with equal energy in accordance with Einstein's equation E = mc2. These new particles may be high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs. The resulting particles are endowed with an amount of kinetic energy equal to the difference between the rest mass of the products of the annihilation and the rest mass of the original particle-antiparticle pair, which is often quite large.

Antimatter is not found naturally on Earth, except very briefly and in vanishingly small quantities (as the result of radioactive decay or cosmic rays). This is because antimatter which came to exist on Earth outside the confines of a suitable physics laboratory would almost instantly meet the ordinary matter that Earth is made of, and be annihilated. Antiparticles and some stable antimatter (such as antihydrogen) can be made in tiny amounts, but not in enough quantity to do more than test a few of its theoretical properties.

There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, and whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead. In the early universe, it is thought that matter and antimatter were equally represented, and the disappearance of antimatter requires an asymmetry in physical laws called the charge parity (or CP symmetry) violation. CP symmetry violation can be obtained from the Standard Model,[76] but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Possible processes by which it came about are explored in more detail under baryogenesis.

Other types of matter

Pie chart showing the fractions of energy in the universe contributed by different sources. Ordinary matter is divided into luminous matter (the stars and luminous gases and 0.005% radiation) and nonluminous matter (intergalactic gas and about 0.1% neutrinos and 0.04% supermassive black holes). Ordinary matter is uncommon. Modeled after Ostriker and Steinhardt.[77] For more information, see NASA.

Ordinary matter, in the quarks and leptons definition, constitutes about 4% of the energy of the observable universe. The remaining energy is theorized to be due to exotic forms, of which 23% is dark matter[78][79] and 73% is dark energy.[80][81]

Galaxy rotation curve for the Milky Way. Vertical axis is speed of rotation about the galactic center. Horizontal axis is distance from the galactic center. The sun is marked with a yellow ball. The observed curve of speed of rotation is blue. The predicted curve based upon stellar mass and gas in the Milky Way is red. Scatter in observations roughly indicated by gray bars. The difference is due to dark matter or perhaps a modification of the law of gravity.[82][83][84]

Dark matter

In astrophysics and cosmology, dark matter is matter of unknown composition that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.[21][85] Observational evidence of the early universe and the big bang theory require that this matter have energy and mass, but is not composed of either elementary fermions (as above) OR gauge bosons. The commonly accepted view is that most of the dark-matter is non-baryonic in nature.[21] As such, it is composed of particles as yet unobserved in the laboratory. Perhaps they are supersymmetric particles,[86] which are not Standard Model particles, but relics formed at very high energies in the early phase of the universe and still floating about.[21]

Dark energy

In cosmology, dark energy is the name given to the antigravitating influence that is accelerating the rate of expansion of the universe. It is known not to be composed of known particles like protons, neutrons or electrons, nor of the particles of dark matter, because these all gravitate.[87][88]

Fully 70% of the matter density in the universe appears to be in the form of dark energy. Twenty-six percent is dark matter. Only 4% is ordinary matter. So less than 1 part in 20 is made out of matter we have observed experimentally or described in the standard model of particle physics. Of the other 96%, apart from the properties just mentioned, we know absolutely nothing.

Lee Smolin: The Trouble with Physics, p. 16

Exotic matter

Exotic matter is a hypothetical concept of particle physics. It covers any material which violates one or more classical conditions or is not made of known baryonic particles. Such materials would possess qualities like negative mass or being repelled rather than attracted by gravity.

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  60. ^ P. Haensel, A.Y. Potekhin, A.Û. Potehin, D.G. Yakovlev (2007). Neutron Stars. Springer. p. 11. ISBN 0387335439. http://books.google.com/books?id=iIrj9nfHnesC&pg=PA52&dq=neutron+star+crystalline+mantle&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA11,M1. 
  61. ^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 111, Figure 25. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA55&dq=isbn=0521409063&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA111,M1. 
  62. ^ D.R. Danielson (2001). The Book of the Cosmos. Da Capo Press. p. 455. ISBN 0738204986. http://books.google.com/books?id=zwIN_-rqrL4C&pg=PA453&dq=exclusion+principle+%22neutron+star%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA455,M1. 
  63. ^ M.A. Strain (2004). Cosmic Entity. iUniverse (self-published). p. 50. ISBN 0595301258. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic7YLrm0xvAC&pg=PA50&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0. 
  64. ^ Phillip John Siemens, Aksel S. Jensen (1994). Elements Of Nuclei: Many-body Physics With The Strong Interaction. Westview Press. ISBN 0201627310. http://books.google.com/books?id=z-8vuyAqT9MC&pg=PA347. 
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  66. ^ WA Zajc (2008). "The fluid nature of quark-gluon plasma". Nuclear Physics A 805: 283c-294c. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2008.02.285. http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0802/0802.3552v1.pdf. 
  67. ^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1. 
  68. ^ "Five Year Results on the Oldest Light in the Universe". NASA. 2008. http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html. Retrieved on 2 May 2008. 
  69. ^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). Physics of stellar evolution and cosmology. Taylor & Francis. p. 202. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA202,M1. 
  70. ^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). op. cit.. New York: Gordon and Breach. p. 233. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA233,M1. 
  71. ^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA72&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA75,M1. 
  72. ^ A. Bodmer "Collapsed Nuclei" Phys. Rev. D4, 1601 (1971)
  73. ^ E. Witten, "Cosmic Separation Of Phases" Phys. Rev. D30, 272 (1984)
  74. ^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1. 
  75. ^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1. 
  76. ^ National Research Council (U.S.) (2006). Revealing the hidden nature of space and time. National Academies Press. p. 46. ISBN 0309101948. http://books.google.com/books?id=oTedc3rTDr4C&pg=PA46. 
  77. ^ J.P. Ostriker, P.J. Steinhardt (2003). "New Light on Dark Matter". arΧiv: astro-ph/0306402 [astro-ph]. 
  78. ^ K. Pretzl (2004). "Dark Matter, Massive Neutrinos and Susy Particles". Structure and Dynamics of Elementary Matter. Walter Greiner. p. 289. ISBN 1402024460. http://books.google.com/books?id=lokz2n-9gX0C&pg=PA289&dq=matter+%22massive+particles%22&lr=&as_brr=0. 
  79. ^ K. Freeman, G. McNamara (2006). "What can the matter be?". In Search of Dark Matter. Birkhäuser. p. 105. ISBN 0387276165. http://books.google.com/books?id=C2OS1kmQ8JIC&pg=PA45&dq=isbn=0387276165#PPA105,M1. 
  80. ^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0. 
  81. ^ J. Gribbin (2007). The Origins of the Future: Ten Questions for the Next Ten Years. Yale University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0300125968. http://books.google.com/books?id=f6AYrZYGig8C&pg=PA151&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0. 
  82. ^ P. Schneider (2006). Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology. Springer. p. 4, Figure 1.4. ISBN 3540331743. http://books.google.com/books?id=uP1Hz-6sHaMC&pg=PA100&dq=rotation+Milky+way&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA5,M1. 
  83. ^ T. Koupelis, K.F. Kuhn (2007). In Quest of the Universe. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 492; Figure 16-13. ISBN 0763743879. http://books.google.com/books?id=6rTttN4ZdyoC&pg=PA491&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA492,M1. 
  84. ^ M.H. Jones, R.J. Lambourne, D.J. Adams (2004). An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology. Cambridge University Press. p. 21; Figure 1.13. ISBN 0521546230. http://books.google.com/books?id=36K1PfetZegC&pg=PA20&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA21,M1. 
  85. ^ Keith A Olive (2003). "Theoretical Advanced Study Institute lectures on dark matter". ArXive preprint. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301505. 
  86. ^ Keith A Olive (2009). "Colliders and Cosmology". Eur Phys J C59: 269-295. http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.1208v1. 
  87. ^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22&lr=&as_brr=0. 
  88. ^ L. Smolin (2007). op. cit.. Boston: Mariner Books. p. 16. ISBN 061891868X. http://books.google.com/books?id=z5rxrnlcp3sC&pg=PA67&dq=%22all+the+particles+that+make+up+matter%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA16,M1. 

Further reading

External links

See also

Dark matter

Antimatter

Cosmology


 
Translations: Matter
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - sag, spørgsmål, anliggende, ting
v. intr. - betyde noget, have betydning, gøre noget

idioms:

  • a matter of    cirka, omtrent, en sag om, et spørgsmål om
  • as a matter of course    selvfølgelighed
  • as a matter of fact    faktum, kendsgerning
  • dead matter    død substans
  • for that matter    for så vidt angår
  • foul matter    aflægning (grafisk industri), snavs, noget urent
  • no matter    uanset

Nederlands (Dutch)
materie, stof, aangelegenheid, hoeveelheid, belang, probleem, omstandigheid, aanleiding, materiaal, afvalmateriaal van het lichaam, post, pus, iets uitmaken, er iets toe doen, etteren

Français (French)
n. - (gén) chose, affaire, problème, question, point, (Sci) matière, contenu (d'un livre), le fond, (Méd) pus
v. intr. - être important, avoir de l'importance, aller

idioms:

  • a matter of    un problème de, une question de
  • as a matter of course    systématiquement
  • as a matter of fact    en fait, à vrai dire
  • dead matter    matière inanimée/inerte
  • for that matter    d'ailleurs
  • foul matter    matières fécales
  • in the matter of    en matière de, pour ce qui concerne
  • matter of course    systématique, naturel ou inévitable (événement)
  • no matter    peu importe!

Deutsch (German)
n. - Angelegenheit, Gegenstand, Materie, Stoff, Inhalt
v. - wichtig sein

idioms:

  • a matter of    nicht mehr als, eine Tatsache
  • as a matter of course    selbstverständlich
  • as a matter of fact    eigentlich
  • dead matter    Ablegesatz
  • for that matter    übrigens
  • foul matter    Ablegesatz
  • in the matter of    was etw. (Akk.) anbelangt
  • matter of course    [etw.] selbstverständlich [tun]
  • no matter    egal ob

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ύλη, ουσία, υλικό, ζήτημα, πράγμα, υπόθεση, αιτία, θέμα, λόγος, κείμενο, περιεχόμενο εντύπου, πύο, ακαθαρσία, σημασία
v. - έχω σημασία, υπολογίζομαι, (μτφ.) μετράω, ενδιαφέρω

idioms:

  • a matter of    περίπου, κατά προσέγγιση
  • as a matter of course    αυτονόητος, αναμενόμενος, αυτονόητο ή φυσικό επακόλουθο
  • as a matter of fact    στη πραγματικότητα
  • dead matter    δοκίμια επιστρεφόμενα στον τυπογράφο μετά την εκτύπωση
  • for that matter    όσο γι' αυτό, όσον αφορά αυτό, άλλωστε
  • foul matter    ακαθαρσίες, πύο
  • no matter    δεν πειράζει

Italiano (Italian)
non andare, importare, affare, materia

idioms:

  • a matter of    una questione di
  • as a matter of course    naturalmente
  • as a matter of fact    per dire il vero
  • dead matter    affare chiuso
  • for that matter    per quanto riguarda ciò
  • foul matter    materiale di prima stampa rimandato all'editore
  • no matter    non importa

Português (Portuguese)
n. - matéria (f), negócio (m), importância (f)
v. - significar

idioms:

  • a matter of    uma questão de
  • as a matter of course    fato natural
  • as a matter of fact    na verdade
  • dead matter    assunto encerrado
  • for that matter    no que diz respeito ao assunto
  • foul matter    fato desonesto
  • no matter    não obstante

Русский (Russian)
вещество, материя, сущность, материал, дело, вопрос, повод, иметь значение

idioms:

  • a matter of    приблизительно
  • as a matter of course    само собой разумеющееся
  • as a matter of fact    фактически
  • dead matter    гиблое дело
  • for that matter    что касается этого
  • foul matter    грязное дельце
  • no matter    безразлично

Español (Spanish)
n. - asunto, cuestión, caso, materia, sustancia, material, plomo
v. intr. - pasar, acontecer, importar, ser de importancia

idioms:

  • a matter of    cuestión o cosa de algo
  • as a matter of course    como es natural, como es de rutina, como de costumbre
  • as a matter of fact    en realidad, a decir verdad, de hecho
  • dead matter    asunto muerto, tema finalizado
  • for that matter    en cuanto a eso, en realidad
  • foul matter    asunto muerto, material de impresión redundante
  • in the matter of    en materia de, concerniente a
  • matter of course    como es natural, como es de rutina, como de costumbre, de forma inevitable
  • no matter    no importa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - materia, ämne, sak, orsak, betydelse, fel (på), sats (typogr.), manuskript, text, var (med.)
v. - betyda, vara (sig) (med.)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
事件, 原因, 物质, 有关系, 要紧, 化脓

idioms:

  • a matter of    关于...的事
  • as a matter of course    理所当然的事
  • as a matter of fact    事实上
  • dead matter    结束了不必再提
  • for that matter    就此而言, 而且, 至于那个
  • foul matter    肮脏的事情, 下流的事情
  • no matter    不论...

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 事件, 原因, 物質
v. intr. - 有關係, 要緊, 化膿

idioms:

  • a matter of    關於...的事
  • as a matter of course    理所當然的事
  • as a matter of fact    事實上
  • dead matter    結束了不必再提
  • for that matter    就此而言, 而且, 至於那個
  • foul matter    骯髒的事情, 下流的事情
  • no matter    不論...

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 원료, 본질, 사건, 중점
v. intr. - 중요하다, 상처가 덧나다

idioms:

  • a matter of    문제에 관한, 대략적으로
  • as a matter of course    당연한 일로
  • as a matter of fact    사실상

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 物質, …質, 問題, 事柄, 困ったこと, 故障, 支障, 事態, 重要性, 内容, 膿, 題材, 原因, 組み版
v. - 重要である, 膿む

idioms:

  • a matter of    問題, およそ…
  • as a matter of course    当然
  • as a matter of fact    実際のところ, 実際は, それどころか
  • for that matter    そのことについては, そういう事なら, そのことならば
  • no matter    たとえ~でも

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مسأله, أهميه, شأن, مادة (فعل) يهم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חומר, עניין, נושא, מוגלה, דברים מסוג מסוים, תוכן הדברים‬
v. intr. - ‮היה חשוב, הפריש מוגלה‬


 
 

 

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