What Are Some Examples of Physical Properties?

Some examples of physical properties include things like odors, mass, density, color, conductivity and volume. Physical properties of matter have two main categories: intensive properties and extensive properties.

Intensive properties are ones that do not depend on the amount of the substance. An intensive property is present no matter the amount of that substance that exists. The two most common intensive properties are odor and color. Luster is an intensive property that represents how shiny a substance is. Boiling points, melting points and freezing points are all also examples of intensive physical properties. These are the temperatures a substance needs to reach in order to change its state of matter. Density, malleability, hardness, conductivity and ductility are also examples of intensive properties of matter.

Extensive properties, on the other hand, are ones that rely on the amount of a substance present in order to be measured. Mass, an extensive property, is the measurement, usually in grams, of how much matter is in an object. Similarly, weight is an extensive property and is a measurement of the gravitational force that the earth has on an object. Lastly, volume is the measurement of the amount of space a substance or object takes up.