All matter can go through changes. Those changes may be physical or chemical. How can you tell the difference between a chemical and physical change? There are several distinctions between physical and chemical changes of matter.

If a substance undergoes a physical change, its makeup or content doesn't change. When a substance undergoes a chemical change a new substance or substances are formed. In such a chemical reaction, energy will be absorbed or emitted.

One example of a physical change is cutting up a piece of paper. If you chop up the paper you will have several small pieces of paper, but you still have paper. Take that same piece of paper and burn it and you will have a chemical change. You have new substances—soot, ash, and carbon dioxide.

Physical changes can be reversed. You could tape the paper back together. But you can't make the paper come back from the ashes.

Click through the cells of the table below to learn more about chemical and physical changes.

Term	Definition	Examples
Physical Property	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your definition. Describes the substance itself (what does the substance look like, what are some characteristics to describe the substance)	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your definition. Mass, volume, length, density, color, state of matter
Physical Change	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your definition. Changes the substance's physical state or appearance, but not its composition; frequently physical changes are reversible	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your examples. Grinding, weathering, breaking, dissolving, melting, freezing, boiling
Chemical Property	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your definition. Describes how the substance reacts with something else	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your examples. Corrosive, flammable, reactive with water
Chemical Change	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your definition. Involves a NEW substance being formed These types of changes are usually not reversible.	Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click here to check your examples. tarnishing, burning, digesting, rusting, fermenting

Watch these video examples.