Reversible

Changes
Day 1
 Words to learn:
physical change uniform
irreversible solvent rate

solute
reversible
Changes to substances
In a warm place, solid ice melts to become a liquid water. This change
of state is called physical change.

A physical change alters how a substance looks or feels. The substance

does NOT change into a new substance.
When you put the liquid water back in the freezer it becomes a solid
again. We say that the change is reversible. This is because we can
change solid ice to liquid water and also change liquid water back to
solid ice.

heating
Liquid water solid ice
cooling
FREEZING is a reversible change which is
brought about by cooling.
MELTING is a reversible change which is brought
about by heating.
What happens
when we burn a
match?

Can the match

change back to
the way it was?
Sometimes the changes to substances cannot be reversed. We call
these irreversible changes.

Some irreversible changes turn one substance into another

substances. This means that there is chemical change.

carbon (new substance)

wood
Mixing, rusting and burning are caused by irreversible change.
Dissolving
Some substances can dissolve in water or other liquids. Sea
water is salty because there is dissolved salt in the water.

The substance that dissolves is called solute.

The substance in which the solute dissolves is called the
solvent.

salt
water (solute)
(solvent)
When a solute dissolves, its particles spread evenly in the
solvent.
Because of this you cannot see the solute in a solution after it
has dissolved. We say that a solution has a uniform appearance.

Uniform
appearance
Let us read the conversation below.

Why do you think the coffee

did not taste sweet?

How could he make the coffee taste sweeter without adding

more sugar?
How can we make solids dissolve faster?
The coffee and sugar forms a solution. The sugar will dissolve faster if
the solution is stirred.

Stirring is one way to

make solid solutes
dissolve faster.

Stirring causes the particles of the solute to spread out into

the spaces between the particles of the solvent more
quickly. Thus increases the rate at which a solute dissolves.
There are other factors that make solids dissolve faster.
Have you ever tried to
make coffee with
water from the
fridge?

Why do we use hot

water?
When we increase the temperature of a substance, the
heat adds energy to the particles of a substance causing
them to move faster and spread out more. This makes the
solute dissolve faster.
Gan En