The Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World

Overview

Explore the science of chemistry, which deals with matter in its infinite variety—from electrons and water molecules to high-tech materials—in this fascinating course. Matter is the raw material of the universe. Discover how the immense variety of matter—stars, mountains, plants, people—is generated by a limited number of chemical elements that combine in simple, well-defined ways.

Consider carbon, a relatively common atom with many faces: diamond, which is the hardest known mineral; graphite, which is among the softest known substances; and carbon nanotubes, which are 300 times stronger than steel and have remarkable electrical properties. In the 24 engaging lectures of The Nature of Matter, no scientific background is needed to appreciate such miracles of everyday life as a bouncing rubber ball or water’s astonishing power to dissolve.

Moreover, the study of matter has led directly to such inventions as semiconductor circuits for computers, new fabrics for clothes, and powerful adhesives for medicine and industry. These discoveries were hard-won by scientific sleuths, but we can all sit back and enjoy the details—just as we delight in the solution to a good detective story. Since prehistoric times, knowledge of materials has driven the development of civilization. The Stone Age was succeeded by the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Industrial Age, and now the age of silicon—the element that is the basis of the semiconductor revolution. Where will new methods and materials take us next? Professor Ball notes that the “fun part about being a chemist is that we still have lots of combinations of these raw materials to explore.” Join this outstanding teacher and researcher on this exciting journey of discovery into the substance of everyday life.

Course Structure

01: Matter, Energy, and Entropy

Starting with a deck of cards tossed into the air, explore the key concepts of matter, energy, and entropy, which are the building blocks of the physical universe. Study examples of these phenomena, and see how they are demonstrated by the behavior of the airborne cards.

Duration: 30 min

02: The Nature of Light and Matter

Trace a scientific revolution that started with a curious observation about light and a seemingly nonsensical explanation. Learn how Max Planck’s proposal that energy is related to frequency, and Albert Einstein’s application of this principle to light, gave birth to modern physics.

Duration: 28 min

03: A New Theory of Matter

Discover how the idea that light comes in discrete packets called “quanta” led to a startling new theory of matter: quantum mechanics. One prediction is that matter, like light, behaves as both a particle and a wave, a property observed in subatomic particles such as electrons.

Duration: 30 min

04: The Structure of Atoms and Molecules

Understand atomic and molecular structure with the help of a simple analogy: the rooms of a house and the collection of houses in a city. See how the electrons of an atom occupy shells, subshells, and orbitals, which give atoms and molecules their distinctive properties.

Duration: 30 min

05: The Stellar Atom-Building Machine

Where did atoms come from? Trace the story of nucleosynthesis—the formation of complex nuclei and atoms. Cover this process from the Big Bang, which filled the universe with hydrogen and helium, to the events inside stars that produced practically all of the heavier elements.

Duration: 30 min

06: The Amazing Periodic Table

Investigate an astonishingly powerful scientific tool: the periodic table of the elements. Delve into the insights that led Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev to construct the first modern version of the table in the 1860s, and explore the world of information it contains.

Duration: 31 min

07: Ionic versus Covalent Matter

Embark on an atomic adventure that explains the differences between vitamins and minerals, among other marvels of the chemical realm. Use your background in electron shell structure from Lecture 4 to understand why atoms form ionic and covalent bonds.

Duration: 31 min

08: The Versatile Element: Carbon

Study the amazing properties of the carbon atom, which can attach itself to other carbon atoms to form the hardest known mineral (diamond) and also one of the softest (graphite). It all depends on the geometry of the bonds. Discover other types of pure carbon: fullerenes, nanotubes, and graphene.

Duration: 31 min

09: The Strange Behavior of Water

Analyze one of the weirdest of all substances: water. While we think of water as normal, its boiling, freezing, dissolving, and heat-storing properties are quite extraordinary compared to other molecules. Discover why this is and what water’s attributes have to do with the existence of life.

Duration: 29 min

10: Matter in Solution

Explore the nature of chemical solutions, which can be liquid, solid, or gaseous, and are ubiquitous in daily life. Examples include dental fillings, air, blood, and soft drinks. Study the components of a solution—the solvent and solute—and the principles of what dissolves what.

Duration: 31 min

11: Interactions: Adhesion and Cohesion

Probe the forces that allow lizards to walk up walls: adhesion and cohesion, which are ways that materials interact with themselves and with other materials. By examining these forces in depth, learn how adhesives work and why cotton makes the best towels.

Duration: 30 min

12: Surface Energy: The Interfaces among Us

A surface is a discontinuity, or interface, between one phase of matter and another. Focus on this crucial boundary, which affects everything from a spacecraft reentering the atmosphere to the efficient washing of clothes. Explore surface phenomena such as films, surface tension, and catalysts.

Duration: 30 min

13: The Eloquent Chemistry of Carbon Compounds

Delve into the richness of organic chemistry—the study of carbon compounds that have links to living things. Learn some of the basic terminology, and survey common organic compounds such as alkanes, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, organic acids, and esters.

Duration: 31 min

14: Materials for Body Implants

Today, medicine can replace many parts of the human body thanks to an improved understanding of materials and their biochemistry. Trace the progress in body implants from dental fillings and tooth implants to artificial hips, knees, hearts, arteries, and breast implants.

Duration: 30 min

15: The Chemistry of Food and Drink

Explore the chemistry of food and drink from the point of view of the cook and the consumer. What are the chemicals in an egg, a piece of toast, a slice of bacon, and other typical foods? How does cooking transform them, and how are the chemicals utilized by our bodies?

Duration: 31 min

16: Fuels and Explosives

Study the different ways that stored chemical energy is released in substances such as gasoline, coal, natural gas, nitroglycerine, and TNT. Learn the difference between detonation, which is what high explosives do, and deflagration, which happens to the fuel in an internal combustion engine.

Duration: 31 min

17: The Air We Breathe

Analyze the mix of gases in air, from the most abundant—nitrogen and oxygen—to minor constituents such as argon and carbon dioxide. Explore the phenomenon of air pressure and how it affects human life. Also chart the worrisome increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Duration: 33 min

18: Materials: The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages

The rise of civilization went hand in hand with advances in the understanding of materials. Learn how the Stone Age gave way to the Bronze Age and then the Iron Age, as ancient people learned to smelt ore and manipulate the properties of metals and alloys.

Duration: 30 min

19: Again and Again: Polymers

The mystery of a bouncing rubber ball launches you into the study of polymers—long molecules with many repeating subunits. Explore their immense variety, from “poly” synthetics like polyethylene and polyester to organic molecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, and DNA.

Duration: 31 min

20: Recycling Materials

Investigate the ease of recycling some materials, such as aluminum and asphalt, and the impracticality of reusing others, such as certain plastics. Look at the different types of plastic, metal, paper, and glass, and discover what you can put in the recycle bin and why.

Duration: 30 min

21: Resistance Is Futile: Superconductors

Under special conditions, some materials lose all resistance to electron flow, becoming superconductors that transmit electricity with 100 percent efficiency. Probe this phenomenon at the atomic level, and learn how scientists are discovering new, more practical superconducting materials.

Duration: 32 min

22: Resistance Is Useful: Semiconductors

How does a tiny piece of impure silicon launch an electronics revolution? Follow the development of semiconductors from the invention of the transistor in the 1940s to ever-smaller circuits that are now measured in nanometers. Along the way, discover how today’s complex microchips are made.

Duration: 33 min

23: Out of Many, One: Composites

When different materials combine to create something very unlike its individual components, you have a composite. Learn what gives composites superior properties. Explore a wide range of examples, including concrete, carbon fiber, fiberglass, Kevlar, automobile tires, carbon nanotubes, and aerogel.

Duration: 31 min

24: The Future of Materials

Close your study of the nature of matter by looking ahead at ambitious goals for future materials, and review examples of past science fiction that’s now science fact. Achievements like the Moon landings and the Internet suggest that nanoscale technologies, a cure for cancer, and other dreams may one day become reality.

Duration: 33 min