Physical Properties of Matter

The characteristics of substances we can note with our physical senses are physical properties. you can recognize your friends by their physical appearance, you can also recognize matter by its physical appearance and properties.

Physical Properties  a property that can be determined without changing the composition of the substance Examples: color, odour, density, melting point, boiling point

The following is a list of other ways of telling one form of matter from another.  ductility: The property displayed by certain metals that enables them to be drawn out into wires without breaking  malleability: The property displayed by certain metals that enables them to be hammered, rolled out, shaped, etc. without breaking

 hardness:The property of an object that resists being crushed or deformed  brittleness: The property of an object that can easily be broken or crushed into smaller pieces under low pressure  conductivity: The property of metals, some metalloids, and ionic solutions that allow an electric current to pass through them  state or phase:form – gas, liquid, solid – in which matter is found

Characteristic Physical Properties  solubility:The property of a substance that allows it to dissolve  melting point: The temperature at which a solid changes to a liquid  boiling point: The temperature at which a liquid changes to a gas

Characteristic Physical Properties Density – the mass of a substance per unit volume:  density = mass (grams) volume (mL or cm 3 ) mass = density x volume volume = mass density

Density Mass – the amount of matter an object has Volume – the amount of space that an object fills. Denisty is a characteristic physical property: eg. Aluminum’s density is 2.7 g/cm 3