INTRODUCTION TO PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES VS. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
• A property of a substance
that can be observed or
changing
measured without
______________
the chemical identity of the
substance.
e.g. color, state of matter
• A property of a substance
it reacts
that describes how
___________
to other substances and
_________________
changes
its chemical
______ as a result.
identity
e.g. combustibility
Which properties can you detect with only your senses?
taste
touch
• taste
• texture
• hardness
sight
smell
• color
• odor
• clarity
• texture
• luster/shininess
RECALL: A PHYSICAL PROPERTY of a substance can be
without changing the chemical
observed or measured _______________
identity of the substance.
STATE OF MATTER
The property of a substance that determines
liquid , ____
solid or ___.
gas
whether or not it is a _____
There are three states of matter. Water in a lake is found
liquid
in the _____________
state, water in your ice cube tray is
solid
found in the _____________
state, and water in steam is
found in the _____________
gas
state.
TASTE
The property of a substance that describes how it affects
taste receptors otherwise known as _________.
taste buds
the _____________
sweet
Sugar tastes _____________
and lemons taste
sour
_____________.
Nothing in a chemistry lab should
tasted
ever be _____________.
Even if one of the
ingredients is a common food item, once it is used for
contaminated
a lab, it is considered potentially _____________.
ODOR
The property of a substance that describes how it affects
olfactory (smell) receptors
the _______________________.
bad
Old dirty gym socks smell _____________
and roses smell
_____________.
Never _____________
anything in a chemistry
good
smell
lab unless instructed to do so. If smelling a substance, the
_____________
hand-waving method should be used to sniff it.
COLOR
The property of a substance that describes how it affects
light sensing receptors in your ___________
eyes / retina when
the ___________________
wavelengths of light.
that substance _______
reflects different ___________
red
A fire truck is _____________
but the sky on a sunny day is
blue
_____________.
The leaves on the trees in the summer are
green
_____________,
but the color of the sun is _____________.
yellow
orange
The color of an orange is _____________!
LUSTER
shiny or
The property of a substance that describes how _____
lustrous it is.
_______
dull
A piece of paper is _____________
because it does not reflect
lustrous / shiny because it
much light, but the chrome on a car is _____________
an eraser
reflects a lot of light. Another dull thing is _______________
and
a spoon
another shiny thing is _____________.
CLARITY
The property of a substance that describes how much
light can pass through it.
____
transparent , meaning that it lets all the
A piece of glass is _____________
translucent because it
light pass through it, maple syrup is _____________
lets some light through it, and mud is _____________
because
opaque
it lets no light pass through it.
TEXTURE
The property of a substance that describes how the
surface
______ of a substance feels
____.
smooth
The surface of a bowl feels _____________
but the surface
of the cement sidewalk feels _____________.
The fur of a
rough
cat feels _____________
soft/fluffy . The surface of an eraser feels
rough/tacky .
_____________
HARDNESS
The property of a substance that describes how
difficult it is to scratch
______ its surface.
diamond
On Mohs hardness scale of minerals, a _____________
is the
hardest known substance on Earth with a hardness level of
10
_____________.
An emerald is also hard but it has a hardness
7.5
level of _____________
.
SOLUBILITY
The property of a substance that describes how easily
dissolves when mixed with another substance.
it ________
Water and vinegar mix together completely and therefore,
soluble
soluble
vinegar is _____________
in water. Salt is also _____________
in water because it will dissolve completely in water. Neither
oil nor sand will dissolve in water, and that is why they are
insoluble
considered _____________
in water.
VISCOSITY
The property of a substance that describes how
pour or how _____
thick it is.
easily it can ____
less
Water is _____________
viscous than oil, and that is why it
pours out of its container more easily than oil does. Ketchup
more
is _____________
viscous than oil, and that is why it’s
harder
_____________
for it to pour out of its container.
MALLEABILITY
The property of a substance that describes its
bent or hammered
sheet
ability be _____
_________ into a thin
________
breaking
without ________.
Aluminum is very malleable and that is why we use it to
_____________
make foil to wrap our food. Other substances, like glass, are
not
_____________
malleable because it would break instead of
not malleable , while copper is
change shape. Wood is _____________
malleable
_____________.
DUCTILITY
The property of a substance that describes its ability
thin wire without ________.
breaking
to be drawn into a ________
gold
copper
Many metals like _____________
and _____________
can
easily be drawn into a thin wire. Substances like water and
ductile
cement are not _____________
.
DENSITY
The property of a substance
that describes how much
mass of that substance is
_____
volume of
contained in a _______
space.
less
Rubber is _____________
dense than water and that is why it
more
will float on water. A penny is _____________
dense than water
and that is why it will sink to the bottom of the water. Water in
solid
its _____________
state is less dense than water in its
liquid
_____________
state. That is why ice floats on water.
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
The property of a substance that is a measure of
electrical current
its ability to conduct an _______________.
Copper
good
_____________
is a _____________
electrical conductor, and
that is why it is used as the main material for the wiring found
not
in most homes and electronics. Plastic is _____________
a
good conductor of electricity and that is why it is used to
insulate
_____________
electrical wires.
MELTING POINT AND BOILING POINT
The property of a substance that is the
temperature at which it transforms from the
___________
solid state into the liquid
____
_____ state.
The property of a substance that is the
temperature at which it transforms from the
___________
liquid state into the ____
gas state.
_____
0 C and the
The melting point of water is ____
100 C. The melting
boiling point of water is ____
gold
point of _____________
is 1063 C and the
boiling
_____________
point of gold is 2856 C.
CRYSTAL FORM
The property of a substance that describes the
geometrical
shapes that it forms when it makes
________________
solid state.
crystals in its _____
If you look with a high powered microscope, you can observe
that sugar crystals are oblong and slanted at the sides, but the
cube
crystal form of salt is shaped more like a _____________.
MAGNETISM
The property of a substance that describes if it is
magnetic field
attracted to a ____________.
attracted
Some substances like steel are _____________
to a magnet and
magnetic
therefore are considered _____________.
Substances like glass
not
are _____________
attracted to magnets and are called
non-magnetic .
_____________
RECALL: A CHEMICAL PROPERTY of a substance
how it reacts to other substances and how it
describes ___________
changes its chemical identity as a result.
________________________
COMBUSTIBILITY
The property of a substance that describes
fire in the
whether or not it will catch on ___
presence of oxygen
______ and heat
____.
combustible Dry wood is _____________
more
Glass is not _____________.
Fossil
combustible than wet wood. _____________
fuels like coal,
natural gas, and gasoline are all combustible.
REACTIVITY WITH WATER
sodium
The property of a substance that
describes whether or not it is
water
reactive with ______.
water
sodium
Some substances like _____________
are very reactive with
water, and so they have to be stored in a water-free environment.
Even the water vapor in the air can cause a reaction, so these
mineral oil
substances must be stored under _____________.