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GCSE Physics · key term
A change in which no new substance is formed and the material can recover its original properties when the change is reversed.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 4.3.1.2 · Paper 1
Revise: Changes of stateChanges of state are physical changes. No new substance is formed, and reversing the change allows the material to recover its original properties. Liquid water can freeze to form ice, and the ice can melt back into liquid water.
Specification 14.5 · Paper 2
A change in which no new substance is formed; the material can recover its original properties if the change is reversed.
Revise: Physical ChangesThis makes a change of state a physical change. The particles themselves do not change into different particles. Only their arrangement, movement and stored energy change, so the material keeps its chemical properties.
Specification P1.2b · Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher)
A change in which a material remains the same substance and recovers its original properties when the change is reversed.
Revise: Physical vs chemical changesA physical change alters a material without producing a new substance. If the change is reversed, the material recovers its original properties. A chemical change produces one or more new substances, so simply reversing the physical conditions does not restore the original material and its properties.
Paper 1, Paper 2
A change in which no new substance is formed; changes of state are physical changes and can be reversed to recover the original material.
Revise: Density and Mass in the Particle ModelMelting, freezing, evaporation, condensation and sublimation are physical changes.
For a physical change, state that no new substance is formed and the original material can recover its original properties when the change is reversed.
When classifying a change, state what happens to the material: in a physical change the original substance remains and regains its original properties when the change is reversed; in a chemical change new substance(s) form.
Avoid writing that every physical change is easily reversible or that every chemical reaction is impossible to reverse. For this specification, focus on whether reversing the change restores the material's original properties.
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