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matter

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
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 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). Matter is ordinarily observed in three different states, or phases (see states of matter ), although…
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Full text Article matter

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Any material that takes up space. Ordinary matter is made up of atoms , which are combinations of electrons , protons and neutrons . Atoms, in turn, make up elements - an ordered series of substances that have atoms with one proton in their nuclei (hydrogen) to a hundred or more. All matter exerts…
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Full text Article matter

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
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 general properties of matter result from its relationship with mass and space. Because of its mass, all matter has…
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Full text Article Mattering

From Encyclopedia of Adolescence
Connectedness ; Sense of belonging ; Wellness It is widely believed that all humans maintain the innate desire and need to matter to others, to be needed and wanted by them, and to feel significant and important to others who are significant to them. For other individuals to show interest in their…
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Full text Article matter

From The Macquarie Dictionary
the substance or substances of which physical objects consist or are composed. Plural: matters physical or corporeal substance in general (whether solid, liquid, or gaseous), especially as distinguished from incorporeal substance (as spirit or mind), or from qualities, actions, etc. Plural: matters…
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Full text Article MATTER

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
There is naught in all that science has disclosed to man more utterly – one might say more hopelessly – mysterious than that power by which in an instant, throughout the whole universe, matter acts on matter. Other Suns Than Ours Chapter XIX (p. 303 ) Longmans, Green & Co. London England . 1896. …
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Full text Article matter

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
That which occupies space and has mass; physical substance. A type of such substance: organic matter. Discharge or waste, such as pus or feces, from a living organism. Philosophy In Aristotelian and Scholastic use, that which is in itself undifferentiated and formless and which, as the subject of…
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Full text Article matter

From The Chambers Dictionary
that which occupies space, and with which we become acquainted by our bodily senses; that out of which anything is made, material; the subject or material of thought, speech, writing, dispute, etc; substance as distinct from form ( philos ); good sense ( Shakesp ); anything engaging the attention; …
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Full text Article MATTER

From Dictionary of Visual Discourse: A Dialectical Lexicon of Terms
The modern antonym of spirit and mind (in the wake of Descartes’ bifurcation of the world into matter and mind). Essentially a polemical term much used in establishing and defending the cognitive authority of modern science, for example, in the writings of Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Thomas Hobbes…
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From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
a notion closely allied with that of a material object; in ordinary language, typically something that material objects are made of, and hence one of their constituents. In more scientific contexts, matter is often identified with material objects themselves or, more precisely, with objects…
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Full text Article matter

From Collins English Dictionary
n 1 that which makes up something, esp a physical object; material 2 substance that occupies space and has mass, as distinguished from substance that is mental, spiritual, etc 3 substance of a specified type: vegetable matter ; reading matter 4 (sometimes foll by of or for ) thing; affair; concern; …
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