bulk matter

…atoms, ions, or molecules of bulk matter; because of the manner in which they are prepared, clusters remain as tiny particles at least during the course of an experiment. There are clusters held together by van der Waals forces, by ionic forces, by covalent bonds, and by metallic bonds. Despite…

…origins of the properties of bulk matter. They may yield other new materials—e.g., possibly far more disordered, amorphous glasslike substances than the glasses now in common use—and at the same time give rise to deeper understanding of why and how glasses form at all.