{{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]].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)] 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. [[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| ]]