Key Concepts: Intensive & Extensive Properties

Core Definitions

• Intensive Property: A property that does NOT depend on the amount of matter (e.g., density, color, boiling point).
• Extensive Property: A property that DOES depend on the amount of matter (e.g., mass, volume, length).
• Density: An intensive property equal to mass divided by volume (D = m/v).
• Color: An intensive property — a small sample and a large sample have the same color.
• Mass: An extensive property — doubling the sample doubles the mass.
• Volume: An extensive property — the amount of space matter occupies changes with sample size.