Ageochemist examines a piece of metal that he found in the soil. he performs tests to identify the metal from its density, electrical conductivity, and melting point. which statement best describes his investigation? a. he is determining physical properties that are sufficient to identify the metal. b. he is determining chemical properties that are sufficient to identify the metal. c. he is determining physical properties that are insufficient to identify the metal. d. he is determining chemical properties that are insufficient to identify the metal.

 A. He is determining physical properties that are sufficient to identify the metal.

Chemical properties are properties which are determined by altering the chemical composition of a substance.

Physical properties are properties which are determined without altering the chemical composition of a substance.

Physical properties such as density, electrical conductivity, and melting point are sufficient to identify a metal as these properties are independent of the  amount of substance being examined.

These properties are known as intensive properties and are used  to identify a substance by comparing the obtained values with standard values.

"among the transition metal elements, manganese and zinc have a slight lowering of electronegativities. the reason behind this is that the nuclear charges of these elements are slightly weaker than the other transition metal elements due to the way their valence electrons are filled up. both manganese and zinc have their valence electrons filled up to the 4th shell with 1 pair of electrons (4s2) completely occupying it. although the electrons in the 3rd shell (3d) are yet to be paired since the outer most shell is filled up, the ability of the nucleus to attract electrons is lessened. hence,   the electronegativity (or the ability to attract electrons) is lessened."

the answer is b. dilution