Answer #1

Physical and chemical changes are both processes that occur in our environment. To understand better how matter behaves, it’s important to identify the differences of each process.

Physical change happens when only the physical appearance of the material changes and not its substance. It means, no new substance is formed only new state and shape. An example of this is ice turning into water. The component is still H2O but then it formed into ice when the temperature is too cold and turns to water when heat is applied. For chemical change, there is no possibility to return the substance to its original form since a new substance is already formed. An example of this is burning of paper. The paper turns to ashes and the ashes become a new substance. There is no way to form the ashes into paper again because there is a new chemical component that is being added to the paper when it was burned.

Physical change is reversible and it occurs fast. The substance can be changed to its original form easily. For chemical change, the transformation usually takes a lot of time and the change is irreversible since the bonds of the substance have been altered. A substance reacts with a chemical to form another chemical entity.

Physical change occurs when there is force applied such as temperature, motion, and pressure. Chemical change usually occurs when heat is applied. Sometimes the change is invisible since it happens between molecules only. With physical change, you will directly see how the material has transformed into another shape and size. In short, physical changes deal mostly with the state of mater (liquid, solid, and gas) while chemical change occurs in molecular level.

Both physical change and chemical change are important occurrences in our environment. Each change is needed to produce another substance or to change another material to a different state. Without change, our environment will not surely function well.

Answered By: shiela [67 ]