Physical and Chemical Properties

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Physical and Chemical Properties
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Physical Properties

• Any property that can be observed or measured
  without forming a new substance.

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Examples
Property Question Descriptors
State What is its state of matter? Solid, Liquid, Gas
Colour What color is it? Colorless, Red, Blue, Green
Texture/Form How does it feel? smooth, fine, coarse, crystalline,
Clarity Can you see through it? Translucent, Transparent, Opaque
Lustre Does it reflect light? Shiny, dull
Malleability Can we change the shape of the object? Shape changes, cannot change shape
Brittleness Does the material break apart? Breaks apart, bends
Ductility Can I pull it into a wire? Pulls into a wire
Odour What does it smell like? Odourless, Pungent, Sharp
Viscosity Does the liquid flow slowly or quickly? High viscosity slow
Density Is the material heavy/light and big/small Big and light, small and heavy
Solubility Does it dissolve? Soluble, insoluble
Conductivity Does it have a charge? High electricity flows
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Chemical Properties

• Any property that describes how a substance
  reacts with another substance when forming a new
  one

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Examples

• Reactivity this is really the only chemical
  property of a substance (instead of considering
  overall reactivity, we sometimes consider more
  specifically how reactive a substance is with
  water, acid, air, etc.)
• Combustibility this specifically describes how
  easily a substance catches on fire and burns in
  air