Scientists have discovered over one hundred elements. All matter is made of at least one element. Examples of matter which are made of only one element are iron pans made from the element of Iron, aluminum foil made from the element of Aluminum, and pencil lead made from the element of Carbon. These elements exist in nature on their own.

However, most matter is made of several elements that are combined together. Sometimes it is easy to separate a substance into its elements and sometimes it is very difficult. This is because elements combine together in different ways.

Most elements are solid at room temperature, but some elements are gases and a few are liquid at room temperature.

Different elements have different properties. Properties refer to the things that help you identify a certain object. For example, you can tell a dog from a cat because you have learned what properties (or qualities) a dog has and what properties a cat has.

Elements have different properties too, and these properties help us identify and understand each element like this Carbon element (shown right).

Matter can be seen in the visible universe at the Macroscopic Level all the way to the Subatomic Levels as shown in the diagram above.