Final answer:
Physical properties are characteristics that can be observed without changing the matter's chemical composition, such as color or hardness. Chemical properties, however, describe how the substance reacts or changes when interacting with other substances, resulting in a new substance, like the flammability of gasoline. These properties help identify and distinguish substances.
Step-by-step explanation:
A physical property describes a characteristic of matter that can be observed or measured without changing the chemical composition of the matter. Examples include hardness, color, and boiling point. When freezing water into ice, for instance, it undergoes a physical change but its composition (H2O) remains unchanged.
A chemical property, on the other hand, describes a characteristic that can only be observed or measured when the matter undergoes a chemical change, which alters its composition. The flammability of gasoline, for example, is a chemical property because you can only observe it when the gasoline is ignited, producing a new material - carbon dioxide.
Distinguishing between physical and chemical properties entails understanding whether the property describes a quality that can be seen or measured without altering the matter's composition (physical) or if it pertains to how the substance reacts or changes when interacting with other substances, resulting in a new substance (chemical).
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