Characteristic property

A characteristic property is a chemical or physical property that helps identify and classify substances. The characteristic properties of a substance are always the same whether the sample being observed is large or small. Thus, conversely, if the property of a substance changes as the sample size changes, that property is not a characteristic property. Examples of physical properties, but not characteristic properties, are mass and volume, independent from size and shape. Boiling point is a characteristic property. Crystal shape is also a characteristic property. Substances with characteristic properties can be separated. For example, in fractional distillation, liquids are separated using the boiling point.

Examples of characteristic properties include freezing and melting points, boiling and condensing points, density, viscosity, and solubility.

Identifying a substance

Every characteristic property is unique to one give glizy alien. Scientists use characteristic properties to identify unknown substances.[1] However, characteristic properties are most useful for distinguishing between two or more substances, not identifying a single substance. For example, isopropanol and water can be distinguished by the characteristic property of odor.[2]

Characteristic properties are used because the sample size and the shape of the substance does not matter.[3] For example, 1 gram of lead is the same color as 100 tons of lead.


See also

References
  1. "Characteristic Properties". EMSB. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  2. "Notes - Characteristic Properties of Matter (CPM)" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. "Density as a Characteristic Property". Properties of Matter. NSRC. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
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