Intensive and Extensive Properties
An intensive property is a bulk property, meaning that it is a physical property of a system that does not depend on the system size or the amount of material in the system. Examples of intensive properties are the temperature and the hardness of an object. No matter how small a diamond is cut, it maintains its intrinsic hardness.
By contrast, an extensive property is one that is additive for independent, noninteracting subsystems.[1] The property is proportional to the amount of material in the system. For example, both the mass and the volume of a diamond is directly proportional the amount that is left after cutting it from the raw mineral. Mass and volume are extensive properties, but hardness is intensive.
The ratio of two extensive properties, such as mass and volume, is scale-invariant, and this ratio, the density, is hence an intensive property.
An intensive property is a physical quantity whose value does not depend on the amount of the substance for which it is measured. For example, the temperature of a system in thermal equilibrium is the same as the temperature of any part of it. If the system is divided the temperature of each subsystem is identical. The same applies to the density of a homogeneous system; if the system is divided in half, the mass and the volume change in the identical ratio and the density remains unchanged. Additionally, the boiling point of a substance is another example of an intensive property. For example, the boiling point for water is 100°C at a pressure of oneatmosphere, a fact which remains true regardless of quantity.
According to the state postulate, for a sufficiently simple system, only two independent intensive variables are needed to fully specify the entire state of a system. Other intensive properties can be derived from the two known values.
Some intensive properties, such as viscosity, are empirical macroscopic quantities and are not relevant to extremely small systems.
Combined intensive properties
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By contrast, an extensive property is one that is additive for independent, noninteracting subsystems.[1] The property is proportional to the amount of material in the system. For example, both the mass and the volume of a diamond is directly proportional the amount that is left after cutting it from the raw mineral. Mass and volume are extensive properties, but hardness is intensive.
The ratio of two extensive properties, such as mass and volume, is scale-invariant, and this ratio, the density, is hence an intensive property.
An intensive property is a physical quantity whose value does not depend on the amount of the substance for which it is measured. For example, the temperature of a system in thermal equilibrium is the same as the temperature of any part of it. If the system is divided the temperature of each subsystem is identical. The same applies to the density of a homogeneous system; if the system is divided in half, the mass and the volume change in the identical ratio and the density remains unchanged. Additionally, the boiling point of a substance is another example of an intensive property. For example, the boiling point for water is 100°C at a pressure of oneatmosphere, a fact which remains true regardless of quantity.
According to the state postulate, for a sufficiently simple system, only two independent intensive variables are needed to fully specify the entire state of a system. Other intensive properties can be derived from the two known values.
Some intensive properties, such as viscosity, are empirical macroscopic quantities and are not relevant to extremely small systems.
Combined intensive properties
There