Which statement describes chemical properties?

Which statement describes chemical properties?

• A. A property that does not involve a chemical change
• B. Describes how a substance reacts or changes into a new substance
• C. The color of a substance
• D. The melting point of a substance

Answer: (B)

Chemical properties describe how a substance reacts or transforms into new substances. They only become evident when a chemical change occurs—when the material interacts with another substance, oxidizes, combusts, decomposes, or otherwise changes its identity. That’s why describing how a substance reacts or changes into a new substance is the correct way to define chemical properties. In contrast, physical properties like color or melting point describe how a substance appears or exists in a given state without changing its chemical identity, so they don’t capture chemical behavior. A property that does not involve a chemical change belongs to physical properties, not chemical ones.

Chemical properties describe how a substance reacts or transforms into new substances. They only become evident when a chemical change occurs—when the material interacts with another substance, oxidizes, combusts, decomposes, or otherwise changes its identity. That’s why describing how a substance reacts or changes into a new substance is the correct way to define chemical properties. In contrast, physical properties like color or melting point describe how a substance appears or exists in a given state without changing its chemical identity, so they don’t capture chemical behavior. A property that does not involve a chemical change belongs to physical properties, not chemical ones.