Physical change

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Physical change is a concept introduced to contrast with the concept of chemical change. A physical change is any change not involving a change in the substance's chemical identity. Matter undergoes chemical change when the composition of the substances changes: one or more substances combine or break up (as in a relationship) to form new substances. Physical changes occur when objects undergo a change that does not change their chemical nature. A physical change involves a change in physical properties. Physical properties can be observed without changing the type of matter. Examples of physical properties include: texture, shape, size, color, odor, volume, mass, weight, and density.

An example of a physical change occurs when making a baseball bat. Wood is carefully crafted into a shape which will allow a batter to best apply force on the ball. Even though the wood has changed shape and therefore physical properties, the chemical nature of the wood has not been altered. The bat and the original piece of wood are still the same chemical substance.

Changes are sometimes hard to categorize strictly as physical or as chemical. Dissolving a salt in water involves the breaking of chemical bonds, yet is often described as a physical change. Some teachers hold that a chemical change is a rearrangement of atoms, but many physical changes also involve the rearrangement of atoms. Many chemical changes are irreversible, and many physical changes are reversible, but reversibility is not a certain criterion for classification. Although chemical changes are often recognized by an indication such as odor, color change, production of a precipitate, or production of a gas, every one of these indicators can result from physical change.

Examples of Physical Changes

• Change of state (such as from solid to liquid or from gas to liquid)
• Change of shape (such as drawing copper metal into a wire)
• Absorption of a liquid into a solid (such as water into ice)
• Mixing of two solids (such as salt and sugar)
• Dividing of a solid into two or more pieces (such as breaking glass)
• Change in appearance (such as the boldness of texture)

See also

• Chemical change
• Process (science)