questioning for a friend...

37 minutes ago, ALine said:

questioning for a friend...

I would say anything made up of entities with rest mass. So not including radiation.

38 minutes ago, exchemist said:

I would say anything made up of entities with rest mass. So not including radiation.

Some radiation has rest mass. It’s electromagnetic radiation that doesn’t, so photons are not matter.

Matter has mass and takes up space. It has fundamental fermions in it, which is why it takes up space.

Hi,

I found this via google, thought it might help

Science Notes and Projects

What Is Matter? Definition and Examples

Get the definition of matter in science and see examples of different forms of matter. Contrast matter with dark matter.

https://sciencenotes.org/what-is-matter-definition-and-examples/

But to be honest, the resident experts here are perhaps the best people to help you / or explain it. My knowledge is very limited.

Edited November 17Nov 17 by Imagine Everything

On 11/16/2025 at 1:31 PM, ALine said:

questioning for a friend...

Three members already working hard for you, though you logged straight off after posting and haven't been back since.

If this is a serious question, please give some context.

17 minutes ago, studiot said:

Three members already working hard for you, though you logged straight off after posting and haven't been back since.

If this is a serious question, please give some context.

Agreed.

What's the matter? 🤭

Matter is basically anything that consists of atoms, automatically such will have mass and take up space.

37 minutes ago, Chibook said:

Matter is basically anything that consists of atoms, automatically such will have mass and take up space.

The scope is rather broader than that. There are subatomic particles with rest mass that are not bound into atoms. These also qualify as matter.

Matter is about 99.9999999% empty space. It's quite surprising that we see each other as solid objects. Similarly the radiation from the magnetron in a microwave oven "sees" the perorated metal screen on the door as a solid sheet of metal which is just as well for our well being.

3 minutes ago, OldTony said:

99.9999999% empty space.

Yes but it's the stuff in it that matters

2 hours ago, Chibook said:

Matter is basically anything that consists of atoms, automatically such will have mass and take up space.

So matter of definitions?

1 hour ago, OldTony said:

Matter is about 99.9999999% empty space. It's quite surprising that we see each other as solid objects. Similarly the radiation from the magnetron in a microwave oven "sees" the perorated metal screen on the door as a solid sheet of metal which is just as well for our well being.

Indeed. @swansont ’s earlier comment about fermions is interesting in this respect. What makes a solid solid is not subatomic particles “touching”, but a combination of electrostatic repulsion and Pauli’s exclusion principle, which keeps electrons in an atom apart, thereby giving atoms a certain effective size.