Intensive property

Definition

An intensive property is a physical property of a system that does not depend on the system's size or amount of material. Examples include temperature, pressure, and density.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Intensive properties remain constant regardless of the quantity of substance present.
2. Common examples include boiling point, melting point, and color.
3. They are contrasted with extensive properties, which do depend on the amount of matter present.
4. Intensive properties are useful for identifying substances because they do not change with sample size.
5. These properties can be combined to form other intensive properties through mathematical operations.

Review Questions

• What distinguishes an intensive property from an extensive property?
• Give three examples of intensive properties and explain why they fit this category.
• How can intensive properties help in identifying substances?

Related terms

Extensive Property: A physical property that depends on the amount of matter in a system. Examples include mass and volume.

Density: An intensive property defined as mass per unit volume. It remains constant regardless of sample size.

Temperature: $\text{A measure of the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance.}$ As an intensive property, it does not depend on the quantity of substance.