Which statement best distinguishes extrinsic properties from intrinsic properties?

Which statement best distinguishes extrinsic properties from intrinsic properties?

• A. Extrinsic properties change based on the amount of substance; intrinsic properties do not.
• B. Intrinsic properties change based on the amount; extrinsic properties do not.
• C. Extrinsic properties are inherent to the material and do not vary with amount.
• D. Intrinsic properties depend on temperature.

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is how a property scales with how much material you have. Extrinsic properties depend on the amount of substance, so they change when you change the size of the sample. If you double the amount of material, extrinsic properties like mass, volume, or total energy also double. Intrinsic properties, on the other hand, do not change with sample size (assuming you compare under the same conditions); they stay the same whether you have a small or large piece of the substance. Examples include density (for a uniform material under the same conditions) and melting or boiling points, which are characteristic of the material itself. So the statement that extrinsic properties change based on the amount of substance, while intrinsic properties do not, best captures the distinction. The other options mix up this idea: intrinsic properties are not defined by changes with amount, so saying they change with amount is incorrect; extrinsic properties are not inherently non-variable with amount, so saying they do not vary with amount is incorrect; and while some properties depend on temperature, that dependence isn’t the criterion used to separate intrinsic from extrinsic.

The key idea here is how a property scales with how much material you have. Extrinsic properties depend on the amount of substance, so they change when you change the size of the sample. If you double the amount of material, extrinsic properties like mass, volume, or total energy also double. Intrinsic properties, on the other hand, do not change with sample size (assuming you compare under the same conditions); they stay the same whether you have a small or large piece of the substance. Examples include density (for a uniform material under the same conditions) and melting or boiling points, which are characteristic of the material itself.

So the statement that extrinsic properties change based on the amount of substance, while intrinsic properties do not, best captures the distinction.

The other options mix up this idea: intrinsic properties are not defined by changes with amount, so saying they change with amount is incorrect; extrinsic properties are not inherently non-variable with amount, so saying they do not vary with amount is incorrect; and while some properties depend on temperature, that dependence isn’t the criterion used to separate intrinsic from extrinsic.