Are physical changes and chemical changes the same?

Answer 1

The answer, on a basic level is no, but it leaves me wondering if you are asking about some particular type of physical change, since the question is a bit far reaching.

The physical change of water from solid (ice) to liquid, for instance, changes nothing in its chemical structure, it is still good old H2O.

On the other hand, the physical change referred to as nuclear fission, ie, the change of the nucleas of an atom, can indeed create a chemical change. Uranium 235, for instance when struck with an additional neutron, will absorb the neutron into its nucleas (pretty much a physical event since the extra neutron is intentionally shot at it by us humans using ingenious devices like cyclotrons), thus making the atom unstable (it was happy the way it was), and causing it to break down into various other chemical substances such as barium, strontium, xenon and other things, but in any case whatever the result, the atomic masses will always add up to 236 (U235 plus the mass of the extra neutron).

So we have taken a molecule of uranium, smacked it with a neutron (a physical action) and caused it to break down into atoms of lower atomic number.

If you are at an elevated level of chemistry, best to study physical chemistry and nuclear chemistry/physics.

If you are at a basic level, the answer to your question is NO.

Ray

Answer 2

No. A physical change is a change in which no new substances are formed. Change of state is a common example of physical change. A chemical change is a change in which one or more new substances are formed. Thus, the main difference between chemical and physical changes is whether new substances are formed.