4. What are Physical Properties?

What Are Physical Properties?

Physical properties of matter are properties that can be measured or observed without matter changing to an entirely different substance. Physical properties are typically things you can detect with your senses. For example, they may be things that you can see, hear, smell, or feel.

Q: What differences between snow and sand can you detect with your senses?

A: You can see that snow and sand have a different color. You can also feel that snow is softer than sand. Both color and hardness are physical properties of matter.

Additional Physical Properties

In addition to these properties, other physical properties of matter include the state of matter. States of matter include liquid, solid, and gaseous states. For example at 20°C, coal exists as a solid and water exists as a liquid. Additional examples of physical properties include:

  • odor
  • boiling point
  • ability to conduct heat
  • ability to conduct electricity
  • ability to dissolve in other substances

Some of these properties are illustrated in the Figures below, below, below, and below.

Q: The coolant that is added to a car radiator also has a lower freezing point than water. Why is this physical property useful?

A: When coolant is added to water in a car radiator, it lowers the freezing point of the water. This prevents the water in the radiator from freezing when the temperature drops below 0°C, which is the freezing point of pure water.

Q: Besides being able to conduct electricity, what other physical property of copper makes it well suited for electric wires?

A: Copper, like other metals, is ductile. This means that it can be rolled and stretched into long thin shapes such as wires.

CK-12 Foundation, Physical Science. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/