A chemical property describes how a substance can react or change to form new substances. Observing a chemical property necessarily changes the original substance, since it reveals itself only through chemical reaction. Flammability and the tendency to corrode are chemical properties, in contrast to physical properties such as colour, which can be observed without any chemical change.

化学性质描述物质如何反应或变化以生成新物质。考察化学性质必然会改变原来的物质,因为这种性质只有通过化学反应才能表现出来。可燃性和易腐蚀性都是化学性质;与之相对,颜色等物理性质则无需任何化学变化即可观察。