Physical properties like density, melting and boiling points, and specific heat can be used to identify substances. Density is a substance's mass per unit volume. Melting point is the temperature when a solid turns to a liquid, while boiling point is when a liquid turns to a gas. Specific heat is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of a substance. Solubility measures how well a substance dissolves in another, and chemical properties describe how a substance changes under certain conditions like reactivity.