Properties Activity
9/17/14
Please get your notebook
Add this title and date
With your table partners, review the
vocabulary terms from yesterday
Today’s Plan
• You will cause or observe 8 different
“changes.”
• It is up to you and your team to decide if the
change is chemical or physical and to find
evidence to support your decision.
• You will need to quickly copy the chart
• We will rotate around the room – pay
attention to the timer!
Pg #
Properties Mini Lab – Remember to note properties!
Situation
1. Burning match
2. Dissolving
candy
3. Leaves
changing color
4. Polyacrylate in
water
5. Tums in vinegar
6. Dissolve salt in
water
7. Alka-seltzer in
water
8. Drink mix
powder in water
What happens
Type of change
Evidence for change
Timer – 3 minutes!
• Your group will have 3
minutes to do the
activity and clean up
• Use only the amounts
directed (or we will run
out of materials)
• I appreciate your
cooperation!
Properties Activity Follow-Up
9/18/14
Please get your notebook & be ready
to start when the bell rings.
Find your Chart from yesterday’s
activity
1. Burning match
• Chemical!
• You can’t reverse this –
the change is
permanent
2. Dissolving candy
• If you dissolved it
by eating it, then
your saliva broke
chemical bonds – it
would be a
chemical reaction
• If you dissolved it in
water – it was a just
physical change
3. Leaves changing color
• Physical *
• The color of the
leaves was already
there – the green
chlorophyll just isn’t
active in cold
weather and shorter
daylight, so the other
pigments show up.
• *Not all sources
agree with this!
4. Polyacrylamide in water
• Physical
• This substance is used to
absorb liquid in baby
diapers (no – this isn’t
recycled from baby
diapers!)
• It can be dried and
reused!
5. Tums in vinegar
• Tums have a composition
similar to baking soda, so
the vinegar caused a
similar reaction.
• It’s a chemical change
6. Dissolve salt in water
• Physical
• Water can be evaporated and the salt will
recrystalize
7. Alka-seltzer in water
• Chemical
• The bubbles indicate that a
gas was released from the
compound.
• Also, you may have noticed
a temperature change.
8. Lemonade mix powder in water
• Physical
• If you evaporated the
water, you would have
the sugar crystal at the
bottom of the glass
Make a List
Chemical Rxn Signs
Physical Changes Signs
Summary
• Write a short summary: (at least four
sentences!)
• How are some ways to distinguish if a change
in matter is chemical or physical?
• Include some examples.