Question

Give one simple activity/ experiment to show that particles of matter are very small.

Answer 1

Aim: To demonstrate that the particles of matter are very very small.

Procedure:

1. Take 100mL of water in a beaker. Add 2-3 crystals of potassium permanganate to it and stir to dissolve. The solution will become dark pink color.
2. Take out about 10mL of this solution and put it into 90mL of clear water in another beaker, the total volume up to 100mL. Place the two solutions side by side on a table.
3. Now take 10mL of the solution prepared in step 2 and put it into another 90mL of clear water in another beaker.
4. Keep diluting the solution like 5 to 8 times.

Observation:

1. The solution is still slightly colored.
2. This shows that a few crystals of potassium permanganate can color a large volume of water as large as about 1000L.

Conclusion:

1. There must be millions of tiny particles in just one crystal of potassium permanganate which keeps on dividing themselves into smaller particles.
2. Ultimately, a stage may reach when these particles cannot divide further into smaller particles.