Question

A stick of butter is taken from the refrigerator, sliced into pieces, placed into a frying pan, melted, and then burned as the frying pan is heated. Which of these steps involves a chemical change?


removing the butter from the refrigerator

slicing the butter into pieces

melting the butter

burning the butter

Answer 1

burning the butter.

Answer 2

Whats the difference between melting and burning the butter? Don't both do the same thing to the butter?

Answer 3

As the butter is melting, all it does is change from solid to liquid form. With more heat, you are denaturing it! Basically, the fat molecules are forced to move apart from each other in the liquid and the heat in the pan in turn burns them.

Idk what product produces the brown color buuuut it is the product of the oxidation of the fats and a breaking down of the chains of the fats is a result of this color change.

Answer 4

okay so butter is a hydro carbon agree?

Answer 5

it contains mainly carbon and hydrogen agree?

Answer 6

burning the butter while melting it you are just changing it from solid to liquid but on burning it would decompose

Answer 7

when you burn a hydrocarbon it gives co2 and h2o

Answer 8

Doesn't it decompose during both actions? Whether melting or burning it. You have to burn the butter to melt it so whats the difference.

Answer 9

this is where a chemical reacting is taking place :D

Answer 10

NOPE! One is just a physical change!!!1

Answer 11

How when one action performs the next action.

Answer 12

@hashsam1 Butter is a saturated hydrocarbon. Since anything obtained from animal fat is saturated.
Its formula is C3H7COOH (butanoic acid).

Answer 13

They are two separate actions, don't confuse yourself!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 14

Areesha Butter contains Numerous fatty acids

Answer 15

But without one, the other can't happen. So why separate them if they are both needed to do one specific thing?

Answer 16

and the question is not about electro phrases or nuclear magnetic resonance

Answer 17

Yeah well that's one of em

Answer 18

@Shonengetsu AHHHHHHHHHHHH

Answer 19

No matter which way you melt the butter, you have to burn the butter in order for it to melt. Or heat it up, in way which would still be considered burning because you are going passed whatever temperature it was in to be solid.

Answer 20

So dude you burn a hydro carbon, two new products are obtained hence its a chemical change.

Answer 21

ahan so i figured it out in this particular case the examiner means to expose butter to any Flame! now do you get my point?

Answer 22

Thats like saying you can freeze water without the cold if you are separating the actions. @Areesha.1D

Answer 23

you melt the butter by providing it heat not just exposing it to flame.

Answer 24

I NEVER SAID THATTT

Answer 25

But freezing it is NOT a chemical change.

Answer 26

Comeon now.

Answer 27

Then how can you separate the cause from the effect? And call them separate actions if they both produce the same outcome. I don't understand.

Answer 28

Physicalllllllllllllll Chemicallllllllllll are NOT the same. BACK UP your concept on chemical and physical changes.

Answer 29

What I don't understand is how you managed to complicate this so much!!

Answer 30

You understand what I'm trying to say? I'm not saying Chemical and Physical are the same thing, I'm saying melting and burning are the same thing. You have to burn to melt, whether it be by fire or another heat source, anything hotter than the original temperature of the butter in solid state. So how is melting different from burning?

Answer 31

It's because logic is something most scientists have bypassed at this point. I didn't make things complicated, I made them simple. By not separating things that are so similar.

Answer 32

Example: Why is it called murder when a person dies, but when an animal dies it's just a killing? How do you categorize two difference species if we are all animals? Make a different name for one action when doing the same to another creature would be just the same, murder.

Answer 33

Anyway, thanks for the answer though, it was correct.

Answer 34

okay so when you heat any substance you melt it or whatever okay??

Answer 35

but when you heat it way too much then there is enough heat energy to break the bonds. That is when a chemical change happens.

Bonds are broken and new bonds are made.

Answer 36

Sorry guys I just felt like having a conversation.

Answer 37

Hahaha alright thanks for explaining how you managed to complicate things. A rather interesting theory i'd love to debate sometime lol.
HAHAA no problem lol.