Chemists are often able to use both the physical and chemical properties of an unknown compound to help identify it.
Physical
Physical properties are those properties of a compound that can be observed without changing the chemical makeup of the compound. Some examples include melting point, boiling point, density, color, smell and solubility. In this experiment you will use two of these:
To observe the chemical properties of a compound requires that we change the chemical composition in some way. The way in which a compound reacts with water to produce some other compound is an example of a chemical property. The functional groups present in a molecule help to determine many of the compound's chemical properties. Because each of the functional groups reacts in slightly different ways, chemists have been able to devise a number of chemical tests to help identify what functional groups are present. You will use only a fraction of those available:
