Physical Properties and Changes

Any property you can see, hear, feel, touch, hear, detect or measure without any chemical changes to the substance is a physical property.

Examples of physical properties include:

• Color
• Luster or lustrousness – shine or glow
• State of matter – solid, liquid, or gas
• Odor – distinctive smell
• Boiling Point – temperature at which phase changes from liquid to vapor
• Melting Point – temperature at which the solid melts to become a liquid
• Freezing Point – temperature at or below which a liquid turns into a solid
• Hardness – rigidity or resistance to pressure
• Viscosity – in liquids, resistance to flow or thickness. Also, stickiness
• Malleability – ability to be shaped or bent by hammering or pressing
• Ductility – ability to be pulled or stretched into a thin wire
• Solubility – ability to dissolve in another substance
• Magnetism – whether or not something is magnetic
• Luminescence – ability to emit light not caused by heat
• Conductivity – ability to conduct heat, electricity or sound
• Compressibility – ability to be compressed and made more compact
• Crystalline structure – geometric pattern e.g. rectangular, hexagonal
• Allotropic – have forms of an element with different physical and chemical properties in two or more crystalline forms in the same physical state. Examples: Carbon occurs in nature as graphite and diamonds. Both have different physical properties (color, luster, conductivity, hardness, etc.)