Which term describes a characteristic of a substance that indicates it can undergo a chemical change, such as burning?

• A. Nucleus
• B. Atom
• C. Chemical property
• D. Chemical change

Answer: (C)

A chemical property describes a substance’s ability to undergo a chemical change, like burning. This means it tells you how the substance can react with other substances and whether it will form new substances. Burning is a chemical change because the substance reacts with oxygen to create new materials (for example, gases and ash in many cases). So saying a substance is flammable or has the potential to burn is describing a chemical property.

The other terms aren’t about the substance’s tendency to react. The nucleus is the center of an atom, not a description of how it reacts. An atom is the basic unit of matter. A chemical change is the process the substance undergoes, not a property that describes it.