Chemical Change
Chemical changes occur when bonds are broken and/or formed between molecules or atoms. This means that one substance with a certain set of properties (such as melting point, color, taste, etc) is turned into a different substance with different properties. Chemical changes are frequently harder to reverse than physical changes.
One good example of a chemical change is burning a candle. The act of burning paper actually results in the formation of new chemicals (carbon dioxide and water) from the burning of the wax. Another example of a chemical change is what occurs when natural gas is burned in your furnace. This time, on the left there is a molecule of methane, (ce{CH_4}), and two molecules of oxygen, (ce{O_2}); on the right are two molecules of water, (ce{H_2O}), and one molecule of carbon dioxide, (ce{CO_2}). In this case, not only has the appearance changed, but the structure of the molecules has also changed. The new substances do not have the same chemical properties as the original ones. Therefore, this is a chemical change.
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We can’t actually see molecules breaking and forming bonds, although that’s what defines chemical changes. We have to make other observations to indicate that a chemical change has happened. Some of the evidence for chemical change will involve the energy changes that occur in chemical changes, but some evidence involves the fact that new substances with different properties are formed in a chemical change.
Observations that help to indicate chemical change include:
- Temperature changes (either the temperature increases or decreases).
- Light given off.
- Unexpected color changes (a substance with a different color is made, rather than just mixing the original colors together).
- Bubbles are formed (but the substance is not boiling—you made a substance that is a gas at the temperature of the beginning materials, instead of a liquid).
- Different smell or taste (do not taste your chemistry experiments, though!).
- A solid forms if two clear liquids are mixed (look for floaties—technically called a precipitate).
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Category: WHY
