Chemical
change is
any change that results in the formation of new chemical substances.
At the molecular level, chemical change involves making or breaking
of bonds between atoms. These changes are chemical:
iron
rusting (iron oxide forms)
gasoline
burning (water vapor and carbon dioxide form)
eggs
cooking (fluid protein molecules uncoil and crosslink to form a
network)
bread
rising (yeast converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide gas)
milk
souring (sour-tasting lactic acid is produced)
suntanning
(vitamin D and melanin is produced)
Physical
change rearranges molecules but doesn't affect their
internal structures. Some examples of physical change are:
whipping
egg whites (air is forced into the fluid, but no new substance is
produced)
magnetizing
a compass needle (there is realignment of groups ("domains")
of iron atoms, but no real change within the iron atoms themselves).
boiling
water (water molecules are forced away from each other when the
liquid changes to vapor, but the molecules are still H2O.)
dissolving
sugar in water (sugar molecules are dispersed within the water, but
the individual sugar molecules are unchanged.)
dicing
potatoes (cutting usually separates molecules without changing
them.)
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