Read the article Looking at Leaves and answer the question.What causes leaves to change color in the autumn? Is the change physical or chemical? Explain your answer.

Answer:

Leaves change color because of the presence of different pigments: chlorophyll (green), carotenoid (yellow/orange), and anthocyanin (red). In autumn, trees stop producing chlorophyll due to less sunlight, which allows the other pigments to become visible. This is a chemical change because the chemical composition of the leaf is changing as chlorophyll breaks down and new pigments like anthocyanin are produced.