Elements are called pure substances, and they are the simplest form of matter. Many elements have been discovered. Every piece of matter is made up of some precise chemical combination of elements.
Elements are the lowest form of all matter.
An element cannot be changed into a lower form by heating or other chemical process. When substances are chemically combined, the result is a new substance with new characteristics unlike those of the substances that were combined to make it. For example, water is a new substance that is the result of combining two elements that are not like water in their makeup. But when these two elements are chemically bonded, they form water, a new substance. The exercise on this page shows a few of the common elements.