1. Extensive & Intensive Properties
Understanding how to identify and distinguish between extensive and intensive properties will help you make better observations in the lab.
Extensive & Intensive Properties
Chemistry 4(B)

2. Extensive & Intensive Properties
Lesson Objectives
Identify extensive and intensive properties
In this presentation, we will discuss how to identify and differentiate between extensive and intensive properties.

3. Extensive Property
Extensive property - property of matter that is quantity dependent
Examples of extensive properties include
Mass
Volume
Length
An extensive property is a property of matter that is quantity dependent. For example, the mass of a substance will change if you change the amount of the substance so it is an extensive property. Other common examples of extensive properties include volume and length.

4. Intensive Properties
Intensive property – property of matter that is independent of quantity
Examples of intensive properties include
Color
Odor
Hardness
Conductivity
Density
Melting, freezing, boiling point
Often used to identify substances
An intensive property is a property of matter that is independent of quantity. An intensive property defines the matter regardless of the amount of present. Examples of intensive properties include color, odor, hardness, conductivity, density, and melting, freezing, and boiling point. Since these properties do not change when the amount of matter is increased or decreased, they are often used to identify unknown substances. For example, the hardness and density of diamond are consistent no matter how large or small the stone is. These intensive properties can be used to distinguish diamond from other stones that are similar in appearance, such as cubic zirconia.

5. Extensive & Intensive Properties
Ex) A student made the following observations during a laboratory session. Which observations were of intensive properties and which were of extensive properties?
Substance
Mass
Volume
Density
Color A
5.0 g
10.0 mL
0.5 g/mL
blue B
4.0 g
20.0 mL
0.2 g/mL
red
Extensive
Intensive
Let’s practice distinguishing between extensive and intensive properties. For example, if a student made the following observations during a laboratory session, which observations were of intensive properties and which were of extensive properties?
Remember that intensive properties are independent of the amount of matter present, so density and color were the intensive properties the student observed.
On the other hand, the student’s observations of mass and volume were observations of extensive properties because they measure of the amount of the substance.

6. Extensive & Intensive Properties
Lesson Objective
Identify extensive and intensive properties
This concludes our presentation on intensive and extensive properties. You now know how to identify and differentiate between extensive and intensive properties.