What does chemical mean?
Word: Chemical
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Chemical means a substance that is made or used in science and in factories, such as chlorine or baking soda.
How do you spell chemical?
Syllables: chem - i - cal
Tricky part: The word starts with a hard k sound, but no k appears. That sound is spelt ch here, as it is in a small family of science words.
Watch out for: kemical, kemikal
Memory tip: School gives you a handy reminder: there too, ch makes the hard k sound.
Chemical in a sentence
Example 1: Chlorine is the chemical that keeps swimming pool water clean.
Example 2: Our science teacher stored each chemical in a labelled jar.
Example 3: Farmers in our village are trying to grow rice without any chemical spray.
Fun Fact
Water counts as a chemical too. Its chemical formula, H2O, shows that each tiny part of it has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
iehclmac
a) mechanic
b) comical
c) medical
d) chemical
Show answer
d) chemical. Medical and comical have no h, and mechanic has an n the jumble lacks.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
ch_m_cal
a) i, e
b) e, e
c) a, i
d) e, i
Show answer
d) e, i. Say it slowly and you hear e in the first beat and a short i straight after the m.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Bleach is a strong chemicle, so the cleaner keeps it on a high shelf.
a) shelf
b) chemicle
c) strong
d) cleaner
Show answer
b) chemicle. It ends in al, the ending of medical and musical.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) microskope
b) laboratary
c) experement
d) chemical
Show answer
d) chemical. A k has no place in microscope, which takes a c; laboratory needs an o before the r, and experiment an i after the r.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Who works with chemicals for most of the day?
a) a cricket umpire
b) a school librarian
c) a research scientist
d) a bus conductor
Show answer
c) a research scientist
2. Why do people wear gloves when using a strong chemical?
a) to change its colour faster
b) to keep it off their skin
c) to make it smell sweeter
d) to make it weigh much less
Show answer
b) to keep it off their skin
