Which term describes a change in matter that produces one or more new substances?

Which term describes a change in matter that produces one or more new substances?

• A. Physical Change
• B. Metal
• C. Reactant
• D. Chemical Change

Answer: (D)

The change being described is when matter breaks apart or reconfigures to form new substances with different properties. That happens when chemical bonds are broken and new bonds are formed, creating materials that have different compositions than the starting matter. This is why the right term is chemical change. You can often tell it’s happening because you observe signs like a color change, the formation of a gas, a precipitate, or a noticeable release or absorption of energy. The substances you end up with are not the same as the ones you started with. Physical changes, by contrast, still involve the same substance; you might see changes in state, shape, or size, but no new substance is created. A metal is just a type of material, not a description of the change. A reactant is a starting substance in a reaction, not the kind of change itself.

The change being described is when matter breaks apart or reconfigures to form new substances with different properties. That happens when chemical bonds are broken and new bonds are formed, creating materials that have different compositions than the starting matter.

This is why the right term is chemical change. You can often tell it’s happening because you observe signs like a color change, the formation of a gas, a precipitate, or a noticeable release or absorption of energy. The substances you end up with are not the same as the ones you started with.

Physical changes, by contrast, still involve the same substance; you might see changes in state, shape, or size, but no new substance is created. A metal is just a type of material, not a description of the change. A reactant is a starting substance in a reaction, not the kind of change itself.