Chemical Property Facts: Must Know For Science Enthusiasts
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The chemical properties of things around us make them useful or dangerous.
From hair dye to toilet cleaners and everyday cosmetics, we are fortunate to use these because of their chemical properties. But then what exactly does the term chemical property mean?
The chemical properties of an element make changes in the substance and convert it into a new chemical with a new formula. These properties can be seen only by changing the internal structure of the substance.
The chemical properties change with the chemical reaction and may change its appearance and subsequent reactions. This is one of the methods to identify a new unknown substance.
The chemical properties of a substance also decide the chemical changes or how it will react with other substances. These properties help scientists classify the substances into elements and compounds. They can purify and extract various substances for human consumption.
The chemical properties are evident only with chemical changes in the substance's chemical formula. We can see or touch the physical properties such as mass, but chemical properties are internal at the cellular level and are dependent on the number of electrons and protons in the cells.
Some examples of chemical properties are chemical stability, oxidation, flammability, reactivity, combustion, and toxicity.
Chemical Property Versus Physical Property
Some examples of substances changes will help you clearly understand the physical and chemical properties. Cooking vegetables or meat means breaking down the proteins and carbohydrates and converting them to make them easy to digest.
When fruits turn brown and mushy due to rotting, it is a chemical change as the substance has changed into something else, and its properties have changed.
A chemical property is the inherent feature of a substance that changes its characteristics due to changes in the cells and atoms. Physical properties are characteristics that may be observed and measured without changing the substance's atomic structure. These are the shape, texture, density, color, and external characteristics that can be deciphered by looking at them.
Most physical changes are said to be reversible (like cooling or heating), whereas, on the other hand, chemical changes are often irreversible and may be reversed with another chemical reaction.
Another way to see this is that a chemical change thereby causes a substance to change, but a physical change, as we see, does not cause a substance to become a fundamentally different substance.
The freezing point of a substance is its physical property. Its physical properties change when liquid water freezes, yet the chemical structure does not change.
But when an extra molecule of oxygen is added, its atomic structure changes, and it becomes H₂O₂ which is a hazardous chemical to use. The bonds of the cells and atoms break or change leading to different chemical properties. We can say that intensive properties and extensive properties are physical as they do not change the substance's chemical identity.
Chemical Properties: Acid Vs. Base
Acids and bases act and react quite differently when used with other chemicals. Acids release Hydrogen gas when reacting with active metals like magnesium, iron, and zinc. Some examples are the reaction of HCl and H₂SO₄.
While they release Hydrogen ions when mixed with water. They react with bases and form a salt and release water. The dilute acids release carbon dioxide while reacting with metal carbonates and bicarbonates.
Bases have slightly different properties. They react with acids and non-metallic oxides and form salt and water. They release ammonia from ammonium salts.
Some bases (not all) may also react with metals and release hydrogen gas. Bases react with acids and cause neutralization leading to salt and water. An example is the reaction of sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid leading to sodium chloride and water.
Chemical Properties Of Solid, Liquid & Gas
Solid, liquid, or gases, all the materials are composed of neutral or ionized atoms. Their state is determined by the number and arrangement of electrons and the number of protons in the cells.
Particles in a solid are quite closely packed in a regular pattern. While in liquids, even though they are close, there is no pattern of arrangement. This allows the free movement of particles in liquids. Gas particles have no regular arrangement, and they move around freely.
Particles in solids may vibrate but do not move much due to their density. Liquid particles vibrate and move around each other. Gas particles vibrate and move at high speeds as they are spread in a large area. Their state of the denseness of particles also decides their reaction to different substances and chemical properties.
Scientists must understand the chemical properties of substances to classify and understand how each substance can be used. These properties depend on the internal structure of the cells of the substances.
FAQs
Q: What is a fact about chemical property?
A: Chemical properties help a scientist to classify and identify substances. The reactions allow them to understand the numbers of electrons and protons, and their reactions to other substances are useful in extraction and purification processes.
Q: What are the three characteristics of chemical properties?
A: We can identify the chemical properties of a substance only when it undergoes any changes.
The substance changes its atomic structure when chemical reactions happen.
A substance may change its physical properties yet have the same chemical properties. For example, water, water vapor, and ice are the same even though one is liquid, gas, and solid.
Q: What are the main chemical properties?
A: Some of the leading chemical properties are the heat of combustion, oxidation, stability, flammability, and reactivity with other substances.
Q: What determines the physical properties of a compound?
A: The mass and volume of a substance depend on the amount of matter being measured. Physical properties can be measured by simple means. The physical properties like density and color depending on the substance's chemical structure.
Q: Is solubility a physical property or a chemical property?
A: Characteristics such as freezing point, density, and solubility are physical properties.
Q: Which statement describes a chemical property?
A: Chemical Property is that characteristic of a substance that can be understood only when the substance changes its structure due to a chemical reaction.
Q: What is some chemical property of iron?
A: Iron is a solid material with its atoms tightly packed. It gets easily oxidized in the air, as do its compounds too. Rust is formed when iron reacts with oxygen and moisture in the air. This is the chemical property of iron. Fe2O3 is the oxidized form of iron.
Q: How is a physical property different from a chemical property?
A: The characteristic physical changes may be intensive and extrinsic but can be easily measured. Chemical properties are observed only during a reaction. Physical properties may reverse even after a change. Chemical properties are not reversible once the change has taken place.
Q: Which describes a chemical property?
A: This is a particular substance's characteristic observed in a chemical reaction. Some major chemical properties include flammability, toxicity, the heat of combustion, pH value, rate of radioactive decay, and chemical stability. A chemical change or reaction is when one substance changes to another substance. In this process, the characteristics of the substances change.
Q: Which describes a chemical property of the element magnesium?
A: Magnesium is an active substance and reacts with most non-metals and acids. It is used as a catalyst to promote the reaction of other substances.
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