LAWS OF MATTER 445 







the table because the attraction of the molecules in the wood is not 

 as strong as the attraction which the molecules of mercury have for 

 each other. 



For this reason dishes may be washed in water, crayon will stick 

 to the blackboard, syrups are purified by filtering through animal 

 charcoal. 



Observe the action of mercury and water on the top of glass, wood, paper, 

 and wood covered with chalk dust. 



Capillarity. We all know that certain blotters take up ink much 

 more quickly than others. This is due to the strong adhesion between 

 the liquid and the solid. Some solids attract certain liquids with a 

 great deal of force. The solid is made loosely with openings which 

 allow the liquid to run in between the particles of the solid. Ker- 

 osene rising in a lamp wick is another example of a liquid being 

 attracted by a solid. 



Place a drop of ink on a piece of glass. Put a piece of lump sugar in the 

 ink. The ink will quickly run up the sugar to the top in the little spaces between 

 the particles of sugar. This is called capillarity (capilla, a hair), since long 

 glass tubes with hairlike bores cause a liquid, such as water, to rise in the tube 

 to some height. 



Indestructibility. The atoms which make up molecules can not 

 be destroyed. We may manufacture paper from wood. We have 

 not destroyed the atoms which made up the molecules of wood. 

 We have simply reunited them, producing a different substance. In 

 the burned paper we still have not destroyed the atoms. Some have 

 passed off in smoke, others remain as ashes, but whatever they were 

 in the original wood, atoms of Hydrogen, atoms of Oxygen, or atoms 

 of Carbon, there are still atoms of Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon 

 which are producing new substances. This inability to destroy 

 any matter is called indestructibility. 



Other Properties of Matter. Matter has several other properties. 

 One is porosity, which allows other substances to enter between the 

 molecules. The molecules of salt and sugar are capable of getting 

 into the spaces between the molecules of water. 



Ductility. A property of matter which allows certain types of 

 material to be drawn out ; such as wire. 



