Physical & Chemical Changes

Physical change

 Physical changes (such as melting or evaporating) do not produce any new

chemical substances
 These changes are often easy to reverse
 Making a mixture from 2 or more substances or dissolving a solute in a solvent
are examples of physical changes as no new substances are produced and are
usually relatively easy to separate

Chemical change

 During chemical changes (usually referred to as chemical

reactions), new chemical substances are formed that have very
different properties to the reactants
 There may be signs that a new substance has formed, such as:
o A colour change
o A precipitate being formed
o Bubbles of gas being produced
 Most chemical reactions are very difficult to reverse
 Energy changes also accompany chemical changes and energy can be given out
(exothermic) or taken in (endothermic)
o The majority of chemical reactions are exothermic with only a small
number being endothermic