chemical change
A chemical property describes the ability of a substance to undergo a specific chemical change. A chemical property of iron is that it is capable of combining with oxygen to form iron oxide, the chemical name of rust. The more general term for rusting and other similar processes is corrosion. Other terms that are commonly used in descriptions of chemical changes are burn, rot, explode, decompose, and ferment. Chemical properties are very useful in identifying substances. However, unlike physical properties, chemical properties can only be observed as the substance is in the process of being changed into a different substance.