how can you cause a physical change?

2 hours ago 1
Nature

A physical change can be caused by altering the shape, size, or state of a substance without changing its chemical composition. Common ways to cause a physical change include:

  • Changing the state of matter by heating or cooling, such as melting, freezing, boiling, or condensing.
  • Changing the shape or size by cutting, bending, crushing, or tearing.
  • Dissolving a solid in a liquid, such as sugar in water.
  • Separating mixtures by physical means like filtration, distillation, or sieving.

These changes affect physical properties but do not create new substances. For example, melting ice to water or tearing a piece of paper are physical changes because only the form changes, not the substance itself.