The earliest people to consider this were the Greek philosophers. They observed that a rock could be broken again and again, eventually becoming dust. But since everything is finite according to logic, they hypothesised that we would reach some point where the object at that size could not be broken further; their word for this point was atomos, meaning 'uncuttable', something that cannot be divided further. During the 17th and 18th centuries, various scientists proved that some materials could not be broken further by chemical means. However in the early 20th century the atom was split into itss component subatomic particles, showing that is not truly indivisble. Further tests and experiments demonstrated that everything has a definite molecular shape; these are confirmed by scanning electron microscopes able to show us the details at this scale.
atoms or molecules
All states of matter do not necessarily have molecules. The noble gases consist of individual atoms, and ionic compounds consist of ions, or formula units. All states of matter must contain atoms, molecules, or ions, because matter is made of atoms, molecules, and ions.
how do modern scientists describe the makeup of matter
yes
Molecules, atoms
atoms or molecules
Matter must have mass and volume, and occupy space. There are things like light and sound that are said to have no matter.
how dose scientists define matter?
Around 1900, there was a huge debate amongst scientists on whether the molecular hypothesis of nature -- ie that matter consisted of moving particles -- was something worthy of study. Basically, there was no experiment that had a result that required the existence of molecules. For that reason, many (if not most) scientists thought that only macroscopic, measurable entities (pressure, temperature) should be studied. Einstein showed that the Brownian Motion of small dust particles could only be explained as the random strikes of molecules in the atmosphere against the dust particle. Assuming the existence of molecules made the explanation of Brownian Motion trivial, assuming the opposite made an explanation impossible.
In all forms of matter the molecules have some movement, but to varying degrees.
All states of matter do not necessarily have molecules. The noble gases consist of individual atoms, and ionic compounds consist of ions, or formula units. All states of matter must contain atoms, molecules, or ions, because matter is made of atoms, molecules, and ions.
vitalism.
Sugar is formed from molecules and these molecules contain atoms.
All classic states of matter can be formed from molecules.
All classic states of matter can be formed from molecules.
In what state of matter transition do water molecules move the least?
how do modern scientists describe the makeup of matter