It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into intensive and extensive properties. (Discuss)

In the natural sciences, an intensive quantity (also intensive variable) is a physical quantity whose value does not depend on the amount of the substance for which it is measured. It is the counterpart of an extensive quantity. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... In physics and chemistry an intensive property of a system is a physical property of the system that does not depend on the system size or the amount of material in the system. ... The lunar farside as seen from Apollo 11 Natural science is the rational study of the universe via rules or laws of natural order. ... A physical quantity is either a quantity within physics that can be measured (e. ... In physics and chemistry, an extensive quantity (also referred to as an extensive variable) is a physical quantity whose value is proportional to the size of the system it describes. ...

For instance, the mass of a substance is not a bulk property, because it depends on the amount of that substance being measured. Density on the other hand, is a bulk property. Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per volume. ...

Combined intensive quantities

At least two functions are needed to describe any system, an intensive one and an extensive one.

If a set of parameters, {a_i}, are intensive quantities and another set, {A_j}, are extensive quantities, then the function F({a_i},{A_j}) is an intensive quantity if for all α,

It follows, for example, that the ratio of two extensive quantities is an intensive quantity - density (intensive) is equal to mass (extensive) divided by volume (extensive). In number and more generally in algebra, a ratio is the linear relationship between two quantities of the same unit. ... In physics and chemistry, an extensive quantity (also referred to as an extensive variable) is a physical quantity whose value is proportional to the size of the system it describes. ...

Joining systems

Let there be a system or piece of substance a of amount m_a and another piece of substance b of amount m_b. Let V be an intensive variable. The value of variable V corresponding to the first substance is V_a, and the value of V corresponding to the second substance is V_b. If the two pieces a and b are put together, forming a piece of substance "a+b" of amount m_a+b = m_a+m_b, then the value of their intensive variable V is:

which is a weighted mean. Further, if V_a = V_b then V_{a + b} = V_a = V_b, i.e. the intensive variable is independent of the amount. Note that this property holds only as long as other variables on which the intensive variable depends stay constant. In statistics, given a set of data, X = { x1, x2, ..., xn} and corresponding weights, W = { w1, w2, ..., wn} the weighted mean is calculated as Note that if all the weights are equal, the weighted mean is the same as the arithmetic mean. ...

In a thermodynamic system composed of two monatomic ideal gases, a and b, if the two gases are mixed, the final temperature T is Thermodynamics (Greek: thermos = heat and dynamic = change) is the physics of energy, heat, work, entropy and the spontaneity of processes. ... In physics and chemistry, monatomic is a combination of the words mono and atomic, and means single atom. ... An ideal gas or perfect gas is a hypothetical gas consisting of identical particles of negligible volume, with no intermolecular forces. ...

where N_i is the number of particles in gas i, and T_i is the corresponding temperature.

Examples of intensive quantities

• Density
• electrical resistivity
• flammability
• Pressure
• Specific heat
• spectral absorption maxima (in solution)
• Speed
• Temperature
• viscosity
• Voltage (Electric potential)

Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per volume. ... // Headline text POOP!! Danny Hornsby (also known as Gnome) is a measure indicating how strongly a Gnome can opposes the flow of electric current. ... A symbol for flammable chemicals Flammability is the ease with which a substance will ignite, causing fire or combustion. ... The use of water pressure - the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. ... The specific heat capacity (symbol c or s, also called specific heat) of a substance is defined as heat capacity per unit mass. ... Dissolving table salt in water In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of one or more substances, known as solutes, dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. ... Speed is the rate of motion, or equivalently the rate of change of position, many times expressed as distance d moved per unit of time t. ... In thermodynamics, temperature is the physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold —something that is hotter has the greater temperature. ... The pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland. ... now. ... Electric potential is the potential energy per unit of charge associated with a static (time-invariant) electric field, also called the electrostatic potential, typically measured in volts. ...

See also

• Extensive quantity
• Physical quantity