KS3 · Chemistry
Properties of elements
Gold melts at one exact temperature, 1,064 °C, and a single copper atom has no colour at all. Two small surprises about the properties of elements.
Chemistry · Properties of elements
Physical or chemical?
Pick a property, then drop it into the right column. Try to work out the rule as you go.
Still to sort
Physical property (0)
How the element looks and behaves on its own
Where the line is: No new substance is formed. The element is still the same element afterwards, even if it has changed shape or state.
Chemical property (0)
How the element reacts with other substances
Where the line is: A new substance is always formed. You end up with something that wasn't there before.
Every element has its own profile. Some traits show when the element is just sitting there on its own. Others only show when it meets another substance.
Predict, then check
Elements with similar properties sit near each other in the Periodic Table. But how similar is similar?
Picture a short list of elements that sit together in the Periodic Table. They all react vigorously with water. What do you predict happens to how reactive and how soft they are as you go down the list?
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
One question splits every property of an element into two kinds. Sort the properties below and see if you can spot it before you're told.
What you need to know
- An element is a pure substance made of only one type of atom. Elements are chemically pure, but they can react with other substances.
- Each element has its own particular set of physical properties and its own particular set of chemical properties.
- Physical properties describe how the element looks and behaves on its own, with no new substance formed: state at room temperature, melting and boiling point, strength or hardness, whether it conducts heat or electricity, appearance (shiny or dull, colour), ductility and malleability.
- Ductile means it can be pulled into wires. Malleable means it can be bent into a shape without breaking. Brittle means it breaks up easily when hit.
- Chemical properties describe how the element reacts with other substances, such as water, acids or oxygen. When an element reacts, new substances are always formed.
- Each element has a fixed melting point and a fixed boiling point. Gold melts at 1,064 °C and boils at 2,836 °C. A substance that melts over a range of temperatures is not an element.
- A single atom has different properties from a larger amount of the element. Individual atoms have no colour.
- Elements with similar properties are near each other in the Periodic Table. They are similar, but not identical.
The big picture
Every element has its own particular set of physical and chemical properties. A physical property describes the element on its own, such as its appearance, hardness, state, melting point or whether it conducts electricity, and no new substance is formed. A chemical property describes how the element reacts with other substances, such as oxygen, water or acids, and a new substance is always formed. Each element melts and boils at one fixed temperature, so a substance that melts over a range is not an element. A single atom has no colour, and elements with similar properties sit near each other in the Periodic Table.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
Here is a fact card for a made-up element, Element X. (It's invented, so you can practise the thinking.) 1. Element X is a dull grey solid at room temperature. 2. When it is hit with a hammer, it breaks into small pieces. 3. When it is heated in air, it reacts with oxygen and forms a white powder that wasn't there before. For each fact, decide whether it describes a physical or a chemical property, and explain your decision.
⚠ Watch out
Calling a property chemical just because something dramatic happens. Melting, bending or breaking into pieces can look like a big change, but the element is still the same element, so these are physical properties. A property is only chemical when a new substance is formed.
Memory hook
Physical: 'still me'. Chemical: 'something new'. If the element is still itself afterwards, it's physical. If something new has been made, it's chemical.
Check yourself
Without looking back: say what ductile, malleable and brittle each mean, give one physical and one chemical property of any element from this lesson, and explain what a melting range tells you about a substance.
Flashcards
(12)What is a physical property of an element?
What is a chemical property of an element?
What does ductile mean?
What does malleable mean?
What does brittle mean?
At what temperatures does gold melt and boil?
A substance melts over a range of temperatures. What does that tell you?
What is an element?
What colour is a single copper atom?
Which two elements are liquid at room temperature?
What does iron form when it reacts slowly with oxygen?
Where are elements with similar properties found in the Periodic Table?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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Keep me postedMore KS3 Chemistry topics
- Acids, bases and alkalis
- Boiling and condensing
- Changes of state: energy and evaporation
- Characteristics of chemical reactions
- Chemical formulae and symbols
- Chromatography
- Combustion
- Composition of the atmosphere
- Compounds and their formation
- Conservation of mass and balanced equations
- Displacement of metals
- Dissolving
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