Physical or Chemical?

Question

Would you say that something dissolving in water is a physical or a chemical change? Thanks. I appreciate it! I wouldn't hurt if you explained your answer either, but it isn't necessary. Thanks!

It's a smarty dissolving in water. That is basically sugar and food coloring, right? So... physical??

4 - physical
4 - chemical
You're killing me guys

Answer 1

Depends on what is disolving in water. Basically, if you take the water out of the end product and it returns to its orginal state, then it would chemical (because you can separate the particles). If you can't get it to return to its natural state by dehydrating the end product, then its a physical response.

EDIT: A smarty in water - physical!

Answer 2

It's a physical change... unless the two things react chemically. For example, if you mix an acid and a base, that's a chemical change, because a chemical reaction is going to occur and you're going to get a salt and water. However, if you dissolve sugar, salt, kool-aid, etc in water, that's a physical change, because you're creating a solution that can be separated. A chemical change is when a new substance is formed... not when you mix substances.

Answer 3

Physical changes and chemical changes have much in common in that you are looking at similar kinds of results. The difference is whether the appearances or differences that you see are from a change in the condition of the material or from a change in what materials are present. That's the kind of thing you need to look for to distinguish between a chemical reaction and a physical change. Physical changes are changes in the condition of the material or changes caused by mixing materials together or taking them apart--just mixing or separating, not the creation of something new.If you take some water and you heat it up and it changes to gas, that is a physical change. You still have water, only now it is steam instead of liquid. It's a physical change.

Answer 4

burning a cake in the oven is a chemical reaction, the reason being is that it is irreversible, that being one of the properties of a chemical change milk going sour in the sun is also a chemical change, for the same reason that the reaction here is irreversible. If it were a physical change (like water to ice), you could change it back to its original state, whereas here you cannot freezing water to ice, as I mentioned above, is a physical change, because physical changes are just changes in the state of the matter, but the matter itself remains the same. The reaction is also reversible (melting ice into water). burning magnesium in a bunsen flame I believe is a chemical change, because on of the properties of a chemical change is that heat is produced, and I believe that occurs in this reaction. Hope I was of help.

Answer 5

if it is something like sugar dissolving in water it is a physical change because you can seperate the sugar and water and get both back in its origional form. but if you put something else in water and you see a color change or smoke/steam come from the water it will be a chemical reaction.

Answer 6

dissolving is ALWAYS a physical change

here is the deal - a chemical change MUST produce at least one new substance that was not present before the change

trust me on this - I teach chemistry

Answer 7

Chemical. The only physical "changes" are described in Newton's laws of thermodynamics. Chemical "changes", however, are combinations of things acting together. Physical interactions are reactions.

Answer 8

if its dissolving shouldnt it be physical?

because the substance still stays the same. it doesn't change chemically no chemical bonds are broken or created and theres no chemical reaction?


not sure about the chemical reaction part but i'm sure about the rest

Answer 9

100 % physical .Dissolving in water is not a chemical transform .Let's see: If you dissolve NaCl in water and it will be a chemical process is should look like this :
2NaCl +H2O-->2HCl +Na2O ( imposible )
but Na2O+ H2O--> NaOH and
NaOH+HCl-->NaCl +H2O
If water is an acid , it won't be strong enogh to react with table salt to produce HCl ( strong acid)
If is a phisical "reaction":
NaCl(solid) + H2O(liquid) ---> [Na(H2O)9](+) +[Cl(H2O)5](-) (aqueous)
As you can see the only "reaction" that is taking place is the hydration of NaCl followed by a heat >0 ( endothermic process)
sorry for my bad english :)

Answer 10

it's physical
u end up w/ sugar food coloring and water at the end
if it were chemical the result would be different