Chemical properties determine how a matter reacts to a reagent or under certain conditions.
A property is a condition, a characteristic, a state or a faculty of something. The concept has a wide variety of meanings according to the context. Chemistry , for its part, is the science aimed at the analysis of the composition, structure and transformation of matter.
The notion of chemical property , in this way, refers to those particularities that lead a certain matter to modify its composition . Thus, chemical properties make a matter react under certain conditions or against certain reagents .
Characteristics of a chemical property
Unlike physical properties , linked to measurable characteristics that can be known in the matter itself (without the need for it to react to something external), chemical properties are always verified in relation to a condition or a reagent.
Typically, chemical elements are subjected to reactions with water , oxygen or hydrogen to determine what effects these bonds produce, always relating them to the current conditions (temperature, pressure, etc.).
Combustion is a reaction that depends on the chemical properties of the elements.
Several examples of reactions
Oxidation , for example, is a chemical reaction that occurs when an element adds oxygen. Iron is a metal that, due to this chemical property, oxidizes very quickly when outdoors.
The formation of hydroxides , combustion and decomposition are other reactions that can be carried out according to the chemical properties of the elements . Based on these properties, it is possible to use the elements in different ways to obtain useful results (on an industrial level, to name one possibility).
Some chemical properties
Atomic number
The number of protons found in the shell of an atom is called the atomic number and represents a concept of great importance for quantum mechanics and chemistry. One of the most obvious applications for students is that it allows the different elements to be ordered in the periodic table, so that the one in the upper left corner ( hydrogen ) has the lowest atomic number, while the one in the lower right corner (hydrogen). ununoctio ), the largest.
Atomic mass
The number of particles found in the shell of the atom, which includes both neutrons and protons, is known as the atomic mass . The unit to express this value is called amu . It is important to mention that the isotopes of the elements can have varied mass values, and that their atomic mass indicates the number of neutrons in the crust; Total atomic mass is understood as the weighted average of those of the isotopes.
Pauling Electronegativity
The tendency of atoms to attract the electron cloud towards themselves while they are in the middle of a bond with other atoms is known as Pauling electronegativity . The most used method to carry out the order of chemical elements according to their electronegativity is the Pauling scale , developed by the American biochemist Linus Carl Pauling in 1932. It should be noted that this chemical property is not calculated based on measurements or formula. mathematics, but it is a pragmatic range .
Fluorine is the element to which Pauling assigned the highest electronegativity value, 4.0 , while francium received the lowest possible, 0.7 .
Melting point
The temperature at which a compound or chemical element finds an equilibrium between its liquid form and its solid form is known as its melting point . To cite a common example, water has a melting point of 0°C.
Boiling point
The boiling point is the temperature at which a chemical compound or element reaches equilibrium between its gas and liquid forms. Water , for example, has a boiling point of 100 °C.