Chemical Properties – Part 1

Table of Contents

• Chemical Properties
• Chemical Changes
• Summary
• What’s Next?

In the previous segment, we learnt about Physical properties and changes. In this segment, we will learn about Chemical properties and changes.

What are Chemical properties?

The term chemical refers to the chemical composition of substances. The properties based on the constituents of the substance are defined as its Chemical properties.

What are Chemical changes?

The changes that alter the chemical composition of the particular material are Chemical changes.

Let us understand this with a simple example.

Ice is the solid state of water. When heat is applied to it, it melts and its state changes to liquid. This change is a physical change. The molecules of water remain the same, only their state has changed. And this change can be reversed. Freezing the liquid water will give ice. Now, if ink is stirred into water, the molecules of water are no longer the same. They are mixed with ink particles. This means the chemical composition of water has changed. This is an example of chemical change.

Chemical changes are irreversible. The participating substances cannot be brought back to their original forms.

Examples of chemical changes in our daily lives

(i) Baking a cake

Cake batter once baked, cannot be reversed to its original form. Also, the taste of cake batter is different from a baked cake. This means that the chemical composition of the batter has changed.