Difference Between Physical and Chemical Properties

Scientific techniques and procedures are perfected day by day to provide the best living conditions, but knowledge of the elements of our environment and their properties is what has allowed us to have so many advances in branches such as medicine, nutrition , pharmaceutical, construction, among others.

It is not enough to know what the things around us are like, it is necessary to know what they are made of, what options they can bring to our lives and what benefit they give us. This is where the importance of knowing the physical and chemical properties of matter lies.

What are Physical Properties?

The physical properties of matter have to do with the measurable and observable characteristics of the elements, without changing their chemical composition. Knowledge of the physical properties of materials allows the prediction of their behavior in their interaction with other objects, all thanks to the already established laws of physics.

Some of the physical properties of matter are as follows:

• Mass: it expresses the amount of matter contained in an element. The unit of measure to use is the gram.
• Volume: refers to the space occupied by a body. The liter is used as the unit of measure.
• Density: relationship between mass and volume of matter.
• Temperature: related to the notion of heat of an element, which is measurable with the use of a thermometer.

There are also others such as smell, color, speed, elasticity, among many more, that is, all those qualities that allow the observer to answer what a body is like and what it is for.

What are Chemical Properties?

The chemical properties of matter are directly related to its composition, and when a body undergoes interaction with another substance in order to measure it, it transforms and changes its chemical constitution. Generally, reagents must be used to study the chemical composition of elements, since it is not otherwise possible to recognize the compounds and their effects accurately.

Among the procedures used to determine the chemical properties of bodies, are:

• Combustion heat: is the energy released by subjecting a body to heat until it burns.
• Ionization: occurs when an atom or molecule has the property of forming ions, that is, it generates an electrical charge from the loss or gain of electrons.
• Reactivity: ability of a compound to react in its interaction with another substance.

There are a wide variety of processes that are used to determine the chemical properties of elements, and thus understand what they are made of, how they interact with other elements and what they are capable of.

Difference Between Physical and Chemical Properties