Lesson · S.3.2
Physical properties and changes of matter
States of matter and the difference between a physical change and a chemical change, with the phase-change vocabulary the TEAS tests directly.
ObjectiveS.3.2Read2 minExam weightChemistry ≈ 18% of Science
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See editions and pricing →What you will be able to do
- Distinguish solids, liquids, and gases by how their particles behave.
- Tell a physical change apart from a chemical change.
- Name each phase change and the states it moves matter between.
What the lesson concludes
- Solids hold shape and volume, liquids hold volume only, gases hold neither.
- A physical change keeps the substance's identity; a chemical change creates a new one.
- Colour change, gas release, heat or light, and precipitate formation signal a chemical change.
- Melting, freezing, vaporisation, and condensation move matter between solid, liquid, and gas.
- Sublimation moves a solid straight to a gas, skipping the liquid state.