In this Article, We would like to study about Physical change and Chemical Change.You must have read and heard a lot about physical and chemical change, but still, if you ask for another example other than the example you have memorized, you may not be able to answer it correctly and with confidence.
This is because you have not connected this topic with your real life. In this article, we will discuss real-life examples of physical and chemical change in very simple language.
Physical and Chemical change example-1
You must have heated water once in your life, and if not, then you should heat water once.
What do you think, about heating the water, what changes do you see in the water?
Always keep one thing in mind in this topic, there are mainly three conditions for chemical change.
- i) Will happen when there is a change in the composition of the material
- ii) Whatever material you have taken, a new product should be made from it.
- iii) From the newly made product, you cannot get the parent material means which you had taken in the beginning. This means chemical changes are not reversible.
If these three conditions are not fulfilled then the change will be a physical change.
Now coming to the example
Q1. Will there be a chemical composition change in heating the water?
Answer is no.
Q2. Will you get a new product for heating water?
Answer is no.
- When the new product is not available, then the question of its reversibility does not arise, so the third condition also does not apply here.
- So this change is not a chemical change and if it is not a chemical change then it is a Physical change.
Note: The chemical composition of water, ice, and vapor are similar, so changing the state of water by changing temperature is an example of physical change.
Physical and Chemical change example-2
Mixing salt in water and heating it is what kind of change?
Example of physical change
- If there is a change in the shape or size of a material without any change in its composition, then it is called a physical change. Like chopping wood, breaking chairs, etc.
- If without changing the composition of the material, changing it from one state to another i.e. from solid to liquid or from liquid to gas or vice versa is called a physical change.
- Remember that the change in any object’s melting point and boiling point is a chemical change, but the melting or boiling of the material is a physical change.
Adding salt to water changes the boiling point of water and a change in the boiling point of a material is an indicator of chemical change, so adding salt to the water and heating it is an example of a chemical change.
Physical and Chemical change example-3
Is painting the wall a chemical change or a physical change?
Keep in Mind
- Change in color cannot be a reliable indicator of chemical or physical change.
- Change in temperature cannot be a reliable indicator of chemical or physical change.
Painting a wall does not change the chemical composition of the wall. In fact, after a few years, the paint itself starts to be removed from the wall, so painting the wall is an example of a physical change. But one thing is worth noting here colour change is an important indicator of chemical change.
Physical and Chemical change example-4
What kind of change is making flour from wheat?
What is the change in making bread from flour?
- In the process of making flour from wheat, big grains of wheat are changed into small grains, in this process, there is no change in the chemical composition of wheat, so the change from wheat to flour is a physical change.
- If you have a piece of paper and tear it into pieces, no new product is formed in it and this is a physical change, just like the process of making flour from wheat will also be a chemical change.
- In the process of making bread from flour, the chemical composition of flour changes, because we use water in the process of kneading the dough and water changes the properties of the flour and this change is irreversible. It is impossible to get dough from the re-kneaded dough. That it’s a chemical change.
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Physical and Chemical change example-5
Falling of leaves from a tree a physical change or a chemical change?
After the leaves fall from the tree, is the drying up of the leaves with time a physical change or a chemical change?
When a leaf falls from a tree, it does not change the chemical composition of the tree, just the place from where it falls becomes empty. But with time leaves come again at that place, and the so falling of leaves from the tree is a reversible change, which is an indicator of a physical change, That’s why falling of leaves from a tree is an example of a physical change.
When the leaf falls apart from the tree, then all the nutrients it gets from the tree stop, due to which the leaf starts decomposing and slowly starts converting from organic substance to inorganic substance. There are a lot of changes in the colour of the leaf, its chemical compositions, properties, etc. Therefore drying up of the leaves is a chemical change.
Difference between Physical and chemical change
| S.NO | Physical Change | Chemical Change |
| 1. | No change in the composition of the material. | This will happen when there is a change in the composition of the material. |
| 2. | No new product formed. | Whatever material you have taken, a new product should be made from it. |
| 3. | It can be reversible. | From the newly made product, you cannot get the parent material means which you had taken in the beginning. This means chemical changes are not reversible |
| 4. | Melting or boiling of the material is a physical change. | A change in any object’s melting point and boiling point is a chemical change. |
| 5. | Examples- Tearing of Paper, Chopping Wood, Painting wall, etc. | Wax melting, making curd from milk, Making bread, etc. |
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Multiple Choice Questions on Physical and Chemical change
Q. 1) Which of the following is not an Example of Physical Change?
i) wall paint
ii) leaves falling from trees
iii) leaf color change
iv) tear paper
Answer- (iii)
Q. 2) Which of the following is not an Example of Physical Change?
i) adding water to milk
ii) heating water
iii) chopping wood
iv) Holi color on face
Answer. (i)
Q. 3) Which of the following is not an Example of Chemical Change?
i) Making curd from milk
ii) Leaf color change
iii )Leaves falling from trees
iv)Candle melt
Answer- (iii)
Q. 4) Which of the following is not an Example of Chemical Change?
i) Cheese making from milk
ii) Change in food taste
iii) Painting window frames
iv) Making bread
Answer- (iii)
Q. 5) Choose the different one ?
i) Wood burning
ii) Candle burning
iii) extracting butter from curd
iv) heating water
Answer. (iv)