Editing Chemical property

{{short description|Material properties that become evident due to a chemical reaction}}
{{refimprove|date=December 2017}}
A '''chemical property''' is any of a [[material property|material's properties]] that becomes evident during, or after, a [[chemical reaction]]; that is, any attribute that can be established only by changing a substance's [[chemical substance|chemical identity]].<ref>William L. Masterton, Cecile N. Hurley, "Chemistry: Principles and Reactions", 6th edition. Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning, 2009, p.13 [https://books.google.com/books?id=teubNK-b2bsC&pg=PT39 (Google books)]</ref> Simply speaking, chemical properties cannot be determined just by viewing or touching the substance; the substance's [[chemical structure|internal structure]] must be affected greatly for its chemical properties to be investigated. When a substance goes under a chemical reaction, the properties will change drastically, resulting in [[chemical change]]. However, a [[catalysis|catalytic]] property would also be a chemical property.

Chemical properties can be contrasted with [[physical properties]], which can be discerned without changing the substance's structure. However, for many properties within the scope of [[physical chemistry]], and other disciplines at the boundary between [[chemistry]] and [[physics]], the distinction may be a matter of researcher's [[perspective (cognitive)|perspective]]. [[Material properties]], both physical and chemical, can be viewed as [[supervenient]]; i.e., secondary to the underlying reality. Several layers of [[Supervenience|superveniency]]{{clarify|date=August 2012}} are possible.

Chemical properties can be used for building [[chemical classification]]s. They can also be useful to identify an unknown substance or to separate or purify it from other substances. [[Materials science]] will normally consider the chemical properties of a substance to guide its applications.

== Examples ==
* [[Heat of combustion]]
* [[Enthalpy of formation]]
* [[Toxicity]]
* [[Chemical stability]] in a given environment
* [[Flammability]] (the ability to burn)
* Preferred [[oxidation state]](s)
* Ability to [[corrode]]
* [[Combustibility]]
* [[Acidity]] and [[basicity]]
 
==See also==
{{Portal|Chemistry}}
* [[Chemical structure]]
* [[Material properties]]
* [[Biological activity]]
* [[Quantitative structure–activity relationship]] (QSAR)
* [[Lipinski's Rule of Five]], describing molecular properties of drugs

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Chemical properties| ]]