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Physiological properties of materials and systems are frequently classified as intensive or extensive based on how the property changes as the size (or extent) of the system changes. As per IUPAC, an intensive quantity has a magnitude that is independent of the system’s size, whereas an extensive quantity has a magnitude that is additive for subsystems.
Taking two identical samples of a substance and combining them is an easy way to determine whether a physical property is intensive or extensive. Whether this doubles the property (for example, twice the mass, twice the length), it is a broad property. It is an intensive property if the property remains unchanged when the sample size is changed.
Intensive property
An intensive property is something that is independent of the substance’s or system’s mass. That is, an intensive property of matter is indeed a property of matter that does not depend on the size or quantity of matter in any way. We can say that temperatures, density, colour, melting and boiling points, and so on are all intensive properties because they do not change with the size or quantity of matter. Because it is an intensive property, the density of 1 litre of water or 100 litres of water will remain constant.
Extensive property
A system’s extensive property is determined by the system’s size or the amount of matter in the system. If indeed the value of a system’s property equals the sum of the values for the system’s parts, the property is said to be extensive.
There really are properties of matter that depend on the quantity or size of the matter, such as length, mass, volume, weight, and so on; these properties are known as extensive properties of matter, and their value changes as the size or quantity of matter changes. Assume we have two identical boxes made of the same material, one with a capacity of four litres and the other with a capacity of ten litres. A box with such a capacity of ten litres will hold more matter than a box with a capacity of four litres.
FAQs
How does intensive property and extensive property differ?
An extensive property is one that is affected by the amount of matter in a sample. Extensive properties include mass and volume. An intensive property is indeed a matter property that is determined solely by the type of matter in a sample and not by its quantity.
Is density an extensive property?
Density is really an intensive property because the samples have a narrow range of densities. Densities have been essentially the same regardless of initial mass. Density is just a physical property that shows how much mass a substance has in a given amount of volume.
Is weight an intensive or extensive property?
Extensive properties, such as mass, weight, and volume, vary with the amount of the substance. Colour, melting point, boiling point, electrical conductivity, and physical state at a given temperature, on the other hand, are not affected by the amount of the substance.
