Why are characteristic properties useful

Extensive properties vary with the amount of the substance and include mass, weight, and volume. Intensive properties , in contrast, do not depend on the amount of the substance; they include color, melting point, boiling point, electrical conductivity, and physical state at a given temperature.

For example, elemental sulfur is a yellow crystalline solid that does not conduct electricity and has a melting point of As mass increases in a given volume, density also increases.

For example, lead, with its greater mass, has a far greater density than the same volume of air, just as a brick has a greater density than the same volume of Styrofoam. At a given temperature and pressure, the density of a pure substance is a constant:. Pure water, for example, has a density of 0. Notice that corn oil has a lower mass to volume ratio than water.

Physical changes are changes in which no chemical bonds are broken or formed. This means that the same types of compounds or elements that were there at the beginning of the change are there at the end of the change. Because the ending materials are the same as the beginning materials, the properties such as color, boiling point, etc will also be the same. Physical changes involve moving molecules around, but not changing them. Learning Objective Recognize the difference between physical and chemical, and intensive and extensive, properties.

Key Points All properties of matter are either physical or chemical properties and physical properties are either intensive or extensive. Extensive properties, such as mass and volume, depend on the amount of matter being measured. Intensive properties, such as density and color, do not depend on the amount of the substance present.

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Empath Up! Views Total views. Actions Shares. No notes for slide. Characteristic Properties of Matter 2. Characteristic Properties of Matter— The Key Ideas Matter has characteristic properties that can be divided into physical properties and chemical properties. Characteristic Properties of Matter— The Key Ideas The physical properties of matter include color, odor, density, solubility, melting point, boiling point, and electrical conductivity.

These are properties that can be observed without chemically changing the substance. Characteristic Properties of Matter— The Key Ideas The characteristic chemical properties of matter include acidity, basicity, combustibility, and reactivity. In order to learn about the chemical properties of a substance, an attempt must be made to chemically change it.

Characteristic Properties of Matter— The Key Ideas Characteristic properties of matter do not depend on the amount of matter that makes up an object, or on the shape of the object. The higher the surrounding pressure, the higher the boiling point for that liquid; and the lower the surrounding pressure, the lower the boiling point of the liquid. For example, in the mile high city of Denver, the atmospheric pressure is low and considerably lower than the atmospheric pressure is on a seaside island like Hilton Head.

So, when you are boiling water in Denver it will boil at a lower temperature and quicker than it will take when you are boiling water on Hilton Head because the boiling point of water is lower in Denver as the result of its low atmospheric pressure and the boiling point of water on Hilton Head is higher because the atmospheric pressure at sea level is higher than that in the mountains.

Your pasta will cook quicker in Denver than it will on Hilton Head. Different liquids vary in terms of their boiling points. For example, the boiling point of water at sea level is degrees Fahrenheit and at degrees centigrade but other liquids may boil at only a higher temperature.

Simply stated, the melting point is the temperature at which a solid transforms and changes into a liquid. The melting point is also impacted by atmospheric temperature. The opposite concept to the melting point is the freezing point of a liquid at which it changes into a solid. When considering water, ice will melt and turn to water at a certain temperature and water will turn into solid ice at a certain temperature.

Conductivity is the measure of a substance's ability, or lack of ability, to conduct electricity. Some matter has a high level of conductivity and other matter has a high level of resistance to the conduction of electricity. Simply stated, heat capacity is the amount of heat that must be added or taken away from a substance to achieve a certain temperature. Heat capacity is also referred to as thermal capacity and the amount of heat that is added or taken away is measured in terms of joules per kelvin.