Which of the following is NOT a rearrangement outcome listed for rearranging materials?

• A. Disproportionation
• B. Isomerization
• C. Polymerization
• D. Combustion

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that rearrangement outcomes involve reorganizing the atoms of a material without introducing new external atoms or changing the overall substance in a way that adds new elements from outside. Disproportionation rearranges electrons within the same element to create species with different oxidation states, isomerization reshuffles how atoms are connected within a molecule to form an isomer, and polymerization links monomer units into larger structures, all concepts that keep the fundamental atoms involved in the process and often keep the overall oxidation framework within the system. Combustion, on the other hand, uses oxygen from outside the material and produces new substances such as carbon dioxide and water, involving breaking and forming bonds with external atoms and a net redox change. That external involvement and redox change mean combustion is not a rearrangement.