Mrs. Clark decides to do a demonstration for her class with a piece of notebook paper. Using a balance, Mrs. Clark discovers that the mass of the paper is 20 g. She then takes the piece of paper and cuts it into several small pieces. The cumulative mass of the small pieces is 20 g. What has Mrs. Clark demonstrated for her class?

Question

A.
a chemical change involving change of mass
B.
a physical change involving change of shape and size of matter
C.
a chemical change involving change of shape and size of matter
D.
a physical change involving change of mass

Answer 1

Mrs. Clark has demonstrated B. a physical change involving change of shape and size of matter.

In this scenario, the paper was cut into smaller pieces, which involves a physical change. The mass of the paper remains the same at 20 g before and after cutting, indicating that there has been no change in mass, which aligns with the properties of physical changes.