14 THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER. 



36. What is a Gram ? A gram is the weight 

 of one cu. cm. of pure water, at its temperature of 

 greatest density (4 C, or 39.2 F.). A 5-cent nickel coin 

 weighs 5 g. 



EXERCISES. 



1. How much water, by weight, will a liter flask contain? 



2. If sulphuric acid is 1.8 times as heavy as water, what weight 

 of the acid will a liter flask contain ? 



3. If alcohol is 0.8 times as heavy as water, how much will 1250 

 cu. cm. of alcohol weigh ? 



4. What part of a liter of water is 250 g. of water ? 



5. What is the weight of a cu. dm. of water ? 



6. What is the weight of a dl. of water ? 



37. What is Indestructibility? Indestructi- 

 bility is that property of matter by virtue of which 

 it cannot be destroyed. 



(a.) Science teaches that the universe, when first hurled into space 

 from the hand of the Creator, contained the same amount of matter, 

 and even the same quantity of each element, that it contains to-day. 

 This matter has doubtless existed in different forms, but during all 

 the ages since, not one atom has been gained or lost. Take carbon 

 for instance. From geology we learn that in the carboniferous age, 

 long before the advent of man upon the earth, the atmosphere was 

 highly charged with carbonic acid gas, which, being absorbed by 

 plants, produced a vegetation rank and luxuriant beyond comparison 

 with any now known. The carbon thus changed from the gaseous 

 to the solid form was, in time, buried deep in the earth, where it 

 has lain for untold centuries, not an atom lost. It is now mined as 

 coal, burned as fuel, and thus transformed again to its original 

 gaseous form. No human being can create or destroy a single atom 

 of carbon or of any other element. Matter is indestructible. 

 Water evaporates and disappears only to be gathered in clouds and 

 condense and fall as rain. Wood burns, but the ashes and smoke 

 contain the identical atoms of which the wood was composed. In a 

 different form, the matter still exists and weighs as much as before 

 the combustion. 



38. What is Inertia? Inertia is that prop- 

 erty of matter by virtue of which it is incapable 



