PHYSICAL

and
CHEMICAL
CHANGES

OBJECTIVES
1. Identify physical and chemical
properties
2. Differentiate between physical and
chemical changes
3. Investigate factors affecting the
solubility of substances

What is matter?
Matter is anything that has mass and
occupies space

Properties of Matter
A description of matter.
Substances have different properties /
characteristics.
These properties can be physical or
chemical

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
This is a description of matter based on how it
feels and looks:

How it looks (shiny(luster), dull, colour

etc)
How it feels (hard, soft, rough, smooth
etc)

ACTIVITY
You are provided with 5 different items:
Candle
Eraser
Metal ruler
Plastic ruler
Wooden spatula
Plasticine
Use each item in turn to try to scratch four items
Make a table to record your results, with the
hardest item at the top and the softest at the
bottom

1. Which was the hardest substance?

2. Which was the softest substance?
3. If you were given a diamond for this
investigation, where would you have
placed it in your table of hardness?

How it smells (sweet, sharp, odourless

etc..)
How it sounds (loud, soft, echo, no
sound etc..)
Size
Shape
What it does (bend, rigid, elastic, tear,
break etc..)
Solubility does it dissolve?

 Some solid objects shatter easily when stressed.

These materials are said to be brittle.
This car is made of
steel.
When it had an
accident, a force
damaged the
bodywork.
But the steel didnt
shatter. It is not brittle.
Steel is malleable.
Malleable means it can
be bent into shape.

Physical state (solid, liquid, gas)

Density (mass to volume ratio; a
measure of how tightly matter is packed)

Melting point, boiling point

Electrical conductivity (ability to carry
electricity)

Heat conductivity (ability to carry heat)

HOMEWORK
Make a list of 5 items that work
because they can stretch or are
elastic.

We can group objects by their

properties

Did you sort them by colour?

One property is Colour

Red
Yellow

Green

Did you sort them by size?

A second property is Size

Small objects

Large objects

Did you sort them by shape?

A third property is Shape
Triangles

Squares

Circles

Which objects are rigid and which can

bend?

These objects are rigid

These objects can bend

HOME WORK
Circle the odd one out.
Wood Iron Oil Rubber

Glass

Explain what process happens after rain

falls and you smell the pitch outside

Chemical Properties
This is the chemical reactivity of a
substance.
How a substance reacts with air, acids,
water and other chemicals
Example:
Sodium reacts violently with water but gold
does not react with water.

ACTIVITY
Identify whether the following are physical or
chemical properties.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Water boils at 100o C.

Diamond is capable of cutting glass.
Vinegar will react with baking soda.
Yeast acts on sugar to make carbon dioxide
and ethanol when making dough.
5. Wood is flammable.

1. Bromine has a red colour.

2. Hydrogen peroxide is used to colour hair.
3. Silver tarnishes.
4. Iron rusts.
5. Salt is dissolved in water.

Changes in Matter
All matter, regardless of state,
undergoes physical and chemical
changes.
These changes can be microscopic or
macroscopic.

Physical Change
A Physical change is a change in how
matter looks, but not the kind of matter it
is.
A physical change occurs when the
substance changes state but does not
change its chemical composition.
Physical changes are usually reversible

Example: Melting Ice (Polar Ice

caps)
The form or
appearance has
changed but it is still
water.
It has only changed
from the solid state to
liquid state.

ACTIVITY
Aim To make a mixture
Materials Iron filings Powdered sulphur Test tube
Procedure 1. Put equal amounts of iron filings and
powdered sulphur in a test tube and
thoroughly mix
2. Look carefully at the contents of the test tube

1. Have the iron filings and powdered

sulphur changes in any way?
2. Do you think the iron filings and
powdered sulphur have combined?
3. Did they form a mixture?
4. Was the change that took place a
physical or chemical change?
5. Give reasons for your answer to 4.

 Think of 2 different ways to separate the

mixture of iron filings and powdered
sulphur given the following information:
Iron metal is magnetic. This means it is
attracted to a magnet.
Sulphur is a non-metal that floats in
water and is non-magnetic.

ACTIVITY
Sometimes when substances combine their
appearance changes and you may think a new
substance is formed.
Materials:
Beaker of water Sugar
Procedure:
1. Add a teaspoon of sugar to half a beaker of
water
2. Stir the mixture until the sugar disappears

 Look carefully at the contents of the

beaker
1. Have the sugar and water changed in any
way?
2. Do you think the sugar and water
combined?
3. What kind of change took place?

Physical Changes
Change in physical state/ state of matter (melting,
freezing, boiling, condensation etc)

Tear
Cut
Fold
Break
Crush

No new substance forms

Bend

Physical Changes

Water Cycle

ACTIVITY

HOMEWORK
Match the words to the spaces.

melt
substance
chemical
change

cooking
physical

When we heat substances they can

______________. If they just _______________ or
evaporate this is a _____________ change. But
sometimes the substance changes into a different
_____________. This is a ______________
change. _____________ causes chemical
changes.

Physical changes can happen naturally, e.g.

cloud formation
People can cause changes
Boiling water
Recycling paper
Recycling metal

HOME WORK
Identify TWO objects in your room and
give FOUR physical properties of the
object youve chosen

HOME WORK
When the (l) cooking fuel in a gas cylinder is
released, it changes to a gas.
1. What causes this change?
2. How does the distance between the particles
in the fuel change when the fuel is released
from the cylinder?
3. Why is the fuel stored in the form of a liquid
rather than a gas?

We make use of changes of state in the

home
Inside the back of the refrigerator is a liquid that
boils and turns into a gas at very low
temperature. But in order to do this the liquid
needs energy. It gets this energy by taking heat
away from inside the refrigerator.
As it does so, the refrigerator becomes cold.
At the back of the refrigerator is a device called
a condenser, which changes the gas back into a
liquid. In this process, heat is released at the
back of the refrigerator.

Chemical Changes & Properties

New matter is formed
It involves a change in the chemical
nature and properties of the substance

Chemical Changes & Properties

Rusting
Burning / combustion
Cooking
Decay
Digestion

 Respiration
Photosynthesis

 You can tell a chemical change has

occurred if the density, melting point or
freezing point of the original substance
changes.
Many common signs of a chemical
change can be seen (bubbles forming,
mass changed, colour change, light/heat
is produced etc).

A change in colour of
fireworks

Bubbling of
hydrogen
peroxide on a
cut

An explosion

Aging

ACTIVITY
Aim: To investigate chemical changes
Materials:
Baking powder Water
Beaker
Procedure:
1. Put a teaspoon of baking powder into a
beaker
2. Add a small amount of water to the beaker
3. Carefully observe what happens
What did you see?

Law of Conservation of Matter

During an ordinary chemical change,
there is no detectable increase or
decrease in the quantity of matter.

Physical Changes

Chemical Changes

No new substances are formed

New substances are formed

Generally reversible

Generally not easily reversible

Not usually accompanied by

considerable energy change

Usually accompanied by
considerable energy change

e.g. change of state, expansion

e.g. burning, decomposition,
and contraction, dissolving sugar in cooking
water, sublimation of iodine

Now lets watch!

Matter

ACTIVITY
Let's Sort!

SOLUBILITY

What is a solution?
A solution is a homogeneous mixture.

e.g. Mineral water, ink

in water, salt and water

 Solutions consist of:

Solute substance to be dissolved
Solvent substance that does the dissolving
E.g. Salt
+
Solute

Water
Solvent

Salt water
Solution

Solubility
Solubility is the maximum amount of a
solute that can dissolve in a given amount
of solvent at a fixed temperature.
A substance that dissolves in a solvent is said to
be soluble in that solvent.
Solubility is the measure of how soluble
something is.

 Insoluble describes a substance that does

not dissolve in a particular liquid.
Salt dissolves in water; it is soluble in
water
Chalk does not dissolve in water; it is
insoluble in water

 We can compare the solubility of different

solutes in different solvents.
Scientists have devised a way of doing this.
They measure the maximum mass of a solute
that will dissolve in 100 g of a solvent.
When a solvent cannot dissolve anymore solute,
the solution is called saturated.

ACTIVITY
Substance

Solubility in grams per 100 g

of water

Calcium chloride
Copper sulphate
Potassium chloride
Potassium nitrate
Sand
Sodium chloride

74
21
7
300
0
36

1. Which substance is the most soluble in

water?
2. Which substance is insoluble in water?
3. Which substance is three times as
soluble as potassium chloride ?
4. Which substance is just under half as
soluble as calcium chloride ?

Factors affecting solubility

Nature of solute & solvent Marker ink will not dissolve in water but will
dissolve in alcohol

 Temperature an increase in
temperature increases the solubility of a
solid solute
An increase in temperature decreases the
solubility of a gas
Pressure applicable to gases
Increase in pressure increases the solubility
of a gas

ACTIVITY
Aim To investigate how the solubility of a solute is
affected by the nature of the solvent
Materials 3 test tubes, 1 glass rod, 1 spatula, salt, water,
ethanol, oil
Procedure
1. Fill a test tube, full with water
2. Add a spatula of salt to the water
3. Using a glass rod, stir the mixture and observe carefully
what happens
4. Observe and record whether the salt dissolved and
state whether it is soluble, slightly soluble or insoluble in
water.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with ethanol and oil instead of water.

Results Record your results in a table

Table showing solubility of salt in different solvents
Solvents used
Salt

Water

Oil

Ethanol

Rate of dissolving
How fast a solute dissolves in a solvent
depends on:
Temperature the more you heat a
solution the faster the solute will dissolve

 Surface area the larger the surface area

of the solute the faster it will dissolve

Which will dissolve faster in water?

Stirring

END
Any questions?