Thursday, December 4, 2014

Nitrogen is odorless and colorless. Are these physical properties or chemical properties?

A physical property is one that characterizes a material without any change in its composition. A chemical property, on the other hand, is exhibited through a change in the chemical composition of the given material. 


Using these definitions, one can see that color and odor are physical properties. Classifying how a substance looks and how it smells does not require changing its composition. Thus, nitrogen's lack of color and odor are physical properties. Some other examples of physical properties are viscosity, density, melting point, volume, and ductility.


Some examples of chemical properties are reactivity with water, flammability, toxicity, and corrosion. For example, reactivity with oxygen is dependent on whether the given substance can form bonds with oxygen or will change its chemical state in the presence of oxygen. Similarly, rusting is only possible if the substance can form new compounds and change its chemical composition. 


Hope this helps.

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