Chemistry
You will distinguish between a characteristic physical property and non-characteristic physical properties by identifying unknown substances.
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After completing this tutorial, you will be able to complete the following:
Chemistry is the study of the composition and changes of matter, and matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Living and nonliving things are made of matter. Therefore, chemistry affects all aspects of life and natural events.
Matter that has a uniform and unchanging composition is called a substance. Substances can be described by their physical properties. A physical property is a quality or condition of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the substance's composition. Because substances have a uniform and unchanging composition, they have consistent physical properties. Boiling point, density, electrical conductivity, mass, melting point, solubility, thermal conductivity, and volume are common physical properties.
Physical properties can be described further as being either characteristic or non-characteristic. Characteristic physical properties are not dependent on the amount of the substance present and can often be used to identify a substance. Characteristic physical properties may include boiling point, density, electrical conductivity, melting point, solubility, and thermal conductivity. Non-characteristic physical properties are dependent on the amount of the substance present, and may include color, mass, shape, volume.
| Approximate Time | 20 Minutes |
| Pre-requisite Concepts | Learners should be familiar with matter, substances, density, mass, volume, and electrical conductivity. |
| Course | Chemistry |
| Type of Tutorial | Concept Development |
| Key Vocabulary | boiling point, characteristic properties, color |
