physical property
(noun)
Any property that is measurable whose value describes a physical system's state.
(noun)
Any characteristic that can be determined without changing the substance's chemical identity.
Examples of physical property in the following topics:
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Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter
- All properties of matter are either extensive or intensive and either physical or chemical.
- For example, the freezing point of a substance is a physical property: when water freezes, it's still water (H2O)—it's just in a different physical state.
- Physical properties are properties that can be measured or observed without changing the chemical nature of the substance.
- Some examples of physical properties are:
- Mass and volume are both examples of extensive physical properties.
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Physical Properties of Covalent Molecules
- The covalent bonding model helps predict many of the physical properties of compounds.
- The Lewis bonding theory can explain many properties of compounds.
- Several physical properties of molecules/compounds are related to the presence of covalent bonds:
- Covalent compounds generally have low boiling and melting points, and are found in all three physical states at room temperature.
- Therefore, while the covalent bonding model accounts for many physical observations, it does have its limitations.
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Variation of Physical Properties Within a Group
- The physical properties (notably, melting and boiling points) of the elements in a given group vary as you move down the table.
- Each element within a group has similar physical or chemical properties because of its atom's outermost electron shell (most chemical properties are dominated by the orbital location of the outermost electron).
- A physical property of a pure substance can be defined as anything that can be observed without the identity of the substance changing.
- Physical properties include such things as:
- Describe the general trends of physical properties within a group on the periodic table.
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Physical Properties of Carboxylic Acids
- The following table lists a few examples of these properties for some similar sized polar compounds (the non-polar hydrocarbon hexane is provided for comparison).
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Variation of Physical Properties Across a Period
- The physical properties of elements vary across a period, mostly as a function of bonding.
- Modern quantum mechanics explains these periodic trends in properties in terms of electron shells.
- Another physical property that varies across a period is the melting point of the corresponding halide.
- The physical properties of the chlorides of elements in Groups 1 and 2 are very different compared to the chlorides of the elements in Groups 4, 5, and 6.
- Describe the general variations in physical properties across a row of the periodic table.
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Background and Properties
- If these same functional groups are attached to an acyl group (RCO–) their properties are substantially changed, and they are designated as carboxylic acid derivatives.
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Properties of Carbon
- Carbon has very diverse physical and chemical properties due to the nature of its bonding.
- Interestingly, carbon allotropes span a wide range of physical properties: diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance, and graphite is one of the softest known substances.
- This property allows carbon to form an almost infinite number of compounds; in fact, there are more known carbon-containing compounds than all the compounds of the other chemical elements combined, except those of hydrogen (because almost all organic compounds contain hydrogen as well).
- It is used in radiometric dating to determine the age of carbonaceous samples (of physical or biological origin) up to about 60,000 years old.
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The Study of Chemistry
- Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure, properties, and transformation of matter.
- Chemistry is also the study of matter's composition, structure, and properties.
- Physical chemistry is the study of the physical properties of chemicals.
- Biophysical chemistry is the application of physical chemistry in a biological context.
- Chemistry is the study of the properties, composition, and transformation of matter.
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Functional Groups
- Functional groups refer to specific atoms bonded in a certain arrangement that give a compound certain physical and chemical properties.
- In materials science, functionalization is employed to achieve desired surface properties; functional groups can also be used to covalently link functional molecules to the surfaces of chemical devices.
- It is important to be able to recognize the functional groups and the physical and chemical properties that they afford compounds.
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Physical and Chemical Changes to Matter
- There are two types of change in matter: physical change and chemical change.
- There are two types of change in matter: physical change and chemical change.
- As the names suggest, a physical change affects a substance's physical properties, and a chemical change affects its chemical properties.
- They are also physical changes because they do not change the nature of the substance.
- The formation of gas bubbles is often the result of a chemical change (except in the case of boiling, which is a physical change).